A server outage caused the mobile sports betting app to go down just as fans were trying to place their bets on a slate of football games
New NFL season, same old complaints about Rhode Island’s sports betting app.
The Rhode Island Lottery is apologizing for a server outage that caused the Sportsbook Rhode Island mobile app to go down for about 75 minutes Sunday afternoon, just as gamblers were seeking to place wagers on the 4 p.m. slate of NFL games.
There was a flurry of complaints on social media because the app included a message that said it was undergoing “planned maintenance,” but the Rhode Island Lottery later clarified that it experienced server problems.
In a post on X, the lottery said: “We apologize for the inconvenience. Sportsbook Rhode Island experienced a server issue around 3:30 pm which interrupted wagering for approx. 75 minutes. This was unexpected and not a planned maintenance outage, which was resolved as quickly as possible.”
The bigger picture: Aside from the annoyance experienced by bettors who were chasing their losses from the Patriots’ game, the outage on the first Sunday of the NFL season is another reminder that Rhode Island is unlike many other states that offer legal sports betting.
While many states – including Massachusetts and Connecticut – have multiple vendors taking bets (like FanDuel and DraftKings), Rhode Island has an exclusive contract with IGT to offer one option for sports betting.
The state Senate approved legislation last year that would have paved the way to allow more vendors in Rhode Island, but the bill did not come to a vote in the House.
IGT’s exclusive app contract runs until 2026, so the bill is expected to reemerge in the new legislative session. It’s also worth noting that there is no guarantee that other vendors will flock to the state because of the way Rhode Island taxes sports betting.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday,you can sign up here.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.