Twin River Management Group, which operates a namesake casino in Lincoln, R.I., said April 21 it has secured purchase rights to land in Tiverton, R.I., and intends to move the Newport Grand facility there.
Tiverton sits just south of Fall River, Mass. Twin River chairman John Taylor Jr. said the new building would enable Rhode Island to better compete with casinos scheduled to open in Massachusetts.
Twin River last month agreed to purchase Newport Grand, which it plans to close should the move to Tiverton materialize.
Newport has twice voted not to allow table games. Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, D-Newport, urged "best possible use" of the land should Twin River vacate.
Gov. Gina Raimondo's response was cautious.
"With competition from casinos in Massachusetts posing a real threat to an important source of revenue in Rhode Island, we need to examine ways to remain competitive," Raimondo said in a statement. "This is especially true since we have a $190 million budget shortfall this year; we are under-investing in critical areas like workforce development, businesses-attraction, and infrastructure; and anticipated gaming competition could worsen our budget challenges in the years ahead."
Gurtin Fixed Income, in a special report on Rhode Island, said the state has traditionally over-relied on gambling revenue. In fiscal 2014, it said, gambling revenues comprised about 11% of all state general revenues, making the Ocean State second only to Nevada in that category.
Gurtin warned that that Massachusetts' gaming legalization and the national trend of "softening lottery and gaming laws" poses a further threat to Rhode Island's revenue stream.
