Rhode Island, whose two casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton provide the third largest source of revenue to the state, is watching that source of funding melt away after the Twin River operations closed indefinitely March 14 under the Covid-19 threat and an executive order by Governor Gina Raimondo. Meanwhile 5,000 residents have the virus and 155 have died.
Last year, the state’s casinos brought in $400 million in taxes. It estimates it is losing $1 million a day in lost revenues.
Whenever they reopen they will face the necessity to impose social distancing that could prevent them from bouncing back.
Richard McGowan, a Boston College professor who closely watches the gaming industry, told the Boston Globe: “They’re going to have to come up with a completely different business model,” He continued, “Having six feet between slot machines would be death for Rhode Island.”
McGowan predicts that casinos will have to rely more on non-gaming amenities since players won’t be able to sit next to each other when the casinos reopen. “It’s going to take a long time for people going to want to be close together,” he said.
Twin River says it has enough liquidity to meet all its obligations for the next 12 months, including “debt service, required capital expenditure and acquisitions.” That hasn’t stopped the company from studying whether it might qualify for any federal aid in the CARES Act relief funds. It is considering applying for a loan through the Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program.
The governor has said she would support applying some federal allocations aimed at low and hourly wage workers to some employees of Twin River.
