Twin River Admits It Can’t Match IGT’s Payroll

Twin River Admits It Can’t Match IGT’s Payroll

IGT’s jobs and payroll numbers in Rhode Island are “too high” for Twin River to replicate, said Marc Crisafulli, President of Twin River’s Rhode Island operations, during testimony before the Senate Finance Committee at the Rhode Island State House. 

IGT is seeking a 20-year extension of its contract with Rhode Island; Twin River is looking to be able to bid for a new contract. 

“There’s a point at which the requirement is too high. If you told me…the requirement was a payroll of $110 million for 20 years, I would tell you that we could not do that economically,” said Crisafulli during his testimony. “We wouldn’t be able to compete for that.”

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Crisafulli made the comments in response to questioning about the 1,000+ jobs and economic impact that IGT provides.

“Twin River has blatantly misled Rhode Islanders, including members of the General Assembly, by questioning IGT’s commitment to good-paying jobs in the state—buying thousands of dollars in misleading ads,” said Paul Tencher, spokesman for Keeping Jobs in Rhode Island. 

Tencher added, “The truth is only one company has more than $100 million in payroll that supports more than 1,000 jobs in the state. That company is homegrown IGT. By their own admission, even with three partners, Twin River would take millions out of the pockets of IGT employees and cause massive layoffs. This would have a major impact on small businesses like our members.”

The testimony -- and the war of words -- marks just the latest in the battle between IGT and Twin River. 

Crisafulli Testimony

In several hours of testimony on Thursday before the Senate Finance Committee, Crisafulli was asked how Twin River would replicate the payroll and jobs commitment that IGT has pledged to retain. 

During his testimony, Crisafulli downgraded his company’s ability to provide payroll and jobs numbers several times before the committee.

Crisafulli said the following:

• “I’ll tell you now, though, we won’t be comfortable with a guarantee of $110 million [in payroll] over 20 years. I’m certain of that...we simply can’t do that.”

• “It’s not going to be $110 million, and if that’s the requirement I’m honestly not sure we’ll be able to get a $110 million payroll.”

• “We are not comfortable at a $110 million payroll. If it’s something in between 250 percent [of minimum wage] and $110 million payroll, we’d have to take a look at it because we’re not going to sign up for something we can’t do.”