RI Gambling Revenue Drops in July

Rhode Island’s gambling revenue ticked down nearly percent last month, according to the most-recent data on table game and terminal revenues at Twin River Casino and Newport Grand released by the Rhode Island Lottery Commission.

Both facilities collected $49.6 million, down from $51.5 million during the same period last year.

Some of the decline could be from the opening of Plainridge Park Casino in neighboring Massachusetts, the impact of which Twin River is hoping to diminish by building a full-scale casino with table games in Tiverton.

But Twin River did see an increase in table game revenues, to the tune of $900,000. The Providence Journal reported that the Lincoln casino removed 202 slot machines to clear space for poker and table games, which could explain some of the revenue swings.

At Twin River, the casino collected $37,908,789 in net terminal income (from slot machines), which is a average of $282 per machine. There are 4,338 machines at the casino.

At Newport grand, $3.8 million was collected for an average of $113 per machine.

For table games, the total revenue reported in July was $9.5 million, which includes $7.8 million at Twin River, $95,116 in revenue for the town of Lincoln, $1.52 million from Rhode Island Lottery table games revenue for a total of $1.14 million transferred to the state’s general fund.

Twin River completed its purchase of Newport Grand earlier this year and has been meeting with Tiverton residents as it prepares to develop a detailed plan for a new casino there to move Newport Grand’s operations.