Rhode Island’s sports betting figures for the month of March were disappointing as casinos closed in the middle of the month due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Handle declines in March

The state’s total handle for the month was $8.949 million. The Rhode Island Lottery released the revenue report for March this Tuesday, suggesting a 68.2% decline month-on-month. In February, punters wagered $23.138 million. Last month’s figures are also down from the $23.583 million recorded in March 2019.

The sports betting revenue also went down significantly in March, falling 63.8% to $841,767. In February, the revenue was $2,323,432. It is also lower than $1,548,230 earned in March 2019. The mobile handle for the month of March 2020 was $3.065, which is down 63.8% from the $8.466 million earned in February. Last year, the state had not approved mobile sports betting.

What went wrong?

Rhode Island is not alone in reporting such disappointing figures. Most other gambling states have had similar issues as they shut down in the middle of March owing to the pandemic. Rhode Island is following stay-at-home orders till May 8.

However, other states have been able to get some traction via online casinos and mobile sports betting. In the case of Rhode Island, a bettor has the only option and must complete an age verification process by visiting a casino. Still, mobile sports betting’s chunk in the total handle improved from 25% in January and 30% in February to 34% in March. This is relatively small compared to leading states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania where it is common to see mobile betting adding 90% of the total handle’s value.

The Twin River casinos in Tiverton and Lincoln are the only places where wagers are accepted and both the premises were closed on March 14. However, the Lincoln property managed to post $441,355 in revenue with a $4,454,765 handle last month. Tiverton property posted revenue of $184,610 on a handle of $1,429,656.

On Tuesday, the state ethics committee ruled that Gov. Gia Raimondo did not violate ethics while negotiation for a 20-year lottery contract with IGT. The process happened without holding bidding. The committee dismissed the complaint with 7-1 support.