LINCOLN, R.I. — Given their team’s success, die-hard fans of the New England Patriots have made Las Vegas like a winter home during Super Bowl week so they can enjoy a fair-weather party while placing bets on the team’s chances.
Their destination this time around is a lot closer.
Rhode Island was one of six states that legalized betting on sporting events last year after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it, ending the effective sports gambling monopoly that Nevada enjoyed for decades. It is the only state in New England that allows sports betting, making it a focal point for Patriots fans from around the Northeast.
“If you don’t have to invest $1,000 going across the country, you’re not going to,” said Zack Natola, a 30-year-old Patriots fan from Watertown, Mass.
He has traveled to Las Vegas three times to bet on the Super Bowl. For the game this Sunday, he is planning to make the short trip south across the state line to the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, one of two places in Rhode Island that offers sports betting.
He’s excited about being able to watch his team and place bets without having to spend the money on a Las Vegas trip.
“It makes it a good weekend,” he said.
The states that jumped into sports betting last year and the casinos that offer it are hoping it’s a profitable weekend.
In Rhode Island, the state receives 51 percent of the revenue from sports betting — the highest percentage of any state that has legalized it.
Gamblers placed about $13 million in wagers on professional sports in December, the first full month of legalized sports betting in the state.
During the regular NFL season, casino customers complained about waiting an hour or more to place a bet.
Since then, the Twin River Casino added betting windows, changed the way staff takes breaks and ran promotions asking people to come early to make Super Bowl wagers, said Craig Sculos, the casino’s vice president and general manager.
“A Super Bowl is an important event anyway,” he said. “A Patriots Super Bowl becomes a mega event in New England.”