FanDuel Backs Rhode Island Bill to Open Sports Betting Market

Sportsbook operator FanDuel is pushing for late-session changes to sports betting in Rhode Island, where online wagering remains tightly controlled. The company supports legislation that would allow four to six sports betting vendors to operate in the state.  

Sportsbook Rhode Island is currently the only legal betting app operating in the Rhode Island sports betting market. Bally's is expected to launch the second online sportsbook before the end of the year. 

FanDuel did not pursue the contract that Bally's won this month. Instead, its attention is on a broader rewrite of Rhode Island's sports betting model. The bill it supports, HB 8186, would increase the number of vendors and reduce the tax rate on sports wagering. 

Rhode Island's current rate has been a central issue for operators. A Spectrum Gaming Group report released last year found the state had the highest effective sports wagering tax rate in the country at 51%. 

The FanDuel-backed bill would cut that rate to 12%. Supporters argue that greater competition and lower tax burdens could increase overall betting activity. They say more legal options would keep more Rhode Island betting within the regulated market. 

Sports betting produced $31 million in revenue from July through March. Most of that came through the Sportsbook Rhode Island app. New operators could introduce additional Rhode Island sportsbook promos, helping grow the industry.

The debate also sits alongside a broader shift in the state's gambling landscape. Real money online casinos, which allow online slots and table games, already generate more for Rhode Island than sports betting. Gambling companies see the online casino market as a stronger long-term revenue source. 

The bill's path remains uncertain, but last month the House Finance Committee recommended it for further study.  

Prediction markets add another legal pressure point 

The Rhode Island sports betting debate is unfolding as the state also fights a separate battle over prediction market apps.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) moved in federal court on Thursday to block Rhode Island from applying state gambling laws to CFTC-registered contract markets. The filing followed Rhode Island's lawsuit against Kalshi and Polymarket, two platforms that offer event contracts linked to sports and other outcomes. 

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha has argued that sports-linked event contracts amount to sports betting when offered to state residents. His office is seeking to bring those products under state gambling law. 

The CFTC takes the opposite position. It says contracts listed on registered exchanges fall under federal commodities law. The agency is asking the court to stop Rhode Island from enforcing state gambling rules against those markets. 

That position has triggered similar conflicts in other states. Regulators have argued that the structure lets companies offer sports-style betting without local gambling approval. The CFTC says state enforcement threatens its authority over federally registered markets. 

For Rhode Island, the result is a two-front gambling policy fight. Lawmakers are weighing more sportsbook competition while state officials challenge a fast-growing market outside the traditional betting system.