{"id":78730,"date":"2018-05-26T11:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-05-26T18:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=78730"},"modified":"2018-05-25T09:26:16","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T16:26:16","slug":"rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhode Island Sports Betting Call for Bids Only Gets Love from State’s Electronic Lottery Operator, IGT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rhode Island is excited about launching sports betting, but it seems the sports betting industry is not quite as excited about jumping into bed with Rhode Island.<\/p>\n

\"IGT
IGT — which already runs the state’s electronic lottery systems — now has a free run at Rhode Island\u2019s sports betting contract as well. Despite initial interest from 18 prospective bidders, the gaming tech giant was the only applicant. (Image: YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last month, in anticipation of the US Supreme Court jettisoning PASPA, the Rhode Island Lottery (RIL) submitted a request for tender to prospective sports betting operators.<\/p>\n

The results were initially very promising. Eighteen prospective partners — including MGM Resorts International, DraftKings and Intralot — attended a pre-bid conference to discuss the contract.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Then, on Monday, 14 May, SCOTUS overturned PASPA, the federal law that prevented state-sanctioned sports betting in all but a handful of states, and the stage was set.<\/p>\n

But despite all the interest, just one bid was submitted. Rhode Island is America\u2019s smallest state by area, although not by population, where it’s 43rd, and not exactly known as a high-traffic gambling mecca.<\/p>\n

We would have preferred more bidders,\u201d admitted lottery spokesperson Paul Grimaldi to the Providence Journal<\/em> this week. \u201cEighteen companies expressed an interest in the RFP (Request for Proposal process). We\u2019re not going to speculate as to why more bids weren\u2019t submitted.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sports Betting Crickets<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Despite the small state being a shoo-in for sports betting, the response was inaudible.<\/p>\n

\n

A bill that will regulate sports books at the state’s two Twin River casinos is almost certain to pass. Meanwhile, Rhode Island\u2019s residents have voted to legalize sports wagering in statewide referendums twice — in both 2012 and 2016 — and now it\u2019s just a question of taking it to the next level.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Truth be told, IGT<\/a> would probably have been the prime candidate even if RIL had been flooded with bids. The global lottery and slots machine maker already has offices in Rhode Island, and provides online lottery services to the state.<\/p>\n

Not a Sure Thing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Grimaldi said IGT\u2019s proposal had been forwarded to the RIL\u2019s technical review committee for scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bid could be rejected if a flaw(s) is discovered in the submission,\u201d Grimaldi told the PJ<\/em>. \u201cWe will consider our options at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a scheduled earnings call on Wednesday, IGT CEO Marco Sala said he felt his company was \u201cwell positioned\u201d to win the Rhode Island contract.<\/p>\n

“We have a longstanding deep relationship with the US casino operators and state lotteries, and have been actively engaged with them and government authorities to support shaping a safe and sustainable offer,\u201d Sala said.<\/p>\n

Rhode Island\u2019s budget<\/a> estimates sports betting will add in the neighborhood of $23.5 million a year to state coffers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rhode Island is excited about launching sports betting, but it seems the sports betting industry is not quite as excited about jumping into bed with Rhode Island. Last month, in anticipation of the US Supreme Court jettisoning PASPA, the Rhode Island Lottery (RIL) submitted a request for tender to prospective sports betting operators. The results […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":78734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13699,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRhode Island Sports Betting Call for Bids Answered by Only IGT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"International Gaming Technology (IGT) was the sole bidder for a Rhode Island sports betting contract, despite initial interest from the likes of MGM and DraftKings.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rhode Island Sports Betting Call for Bids Answered by Only IGT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"International Gaming Technology (IGT) was the sole bidder for a Rhode Island sports betting contract, despite initial interest from the likes of MGM and DraftKings.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-26T18:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-25T16:26:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/igt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/\",\"name\":\"Rhode Island Sports Betting Call for Bids Answered by Only IGT\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/igt.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-26T18:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-25T16:26:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"International Gaming Technology (IGT) was the sole bidder for a Rhode Island sports betting contract, despite initial interest from the likes of MGM and DraftKings.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-sports-betting-call-for-bids-answered-by-only-igt\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/igt.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/igt.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"IGT has a free run at Rhode Island\u2019s sports betting contract. 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