In the latter half of 2013, New Jersey
became the first U.S. state to legally permit online casinos. Rush
Street Interactive, Inc. (RSI) entered the New Jersey online casino
market approximately three years after that market opened and there
were already numerous competitors in the market at that time. Less
than three years after beginning operations in New Jersey, RSI was
ranked the #4 online casino brand in New Jersey based on revenue, out
of 19 total operators in the market at that time, according to the
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) United States Online Casino Tracker
for April 2019.
Today, Chicago-based RSI is a leading
online gaming and entertainment company that focuses primarily on
online casino and online sports betting in the U.S. and Latin
American markets.
On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that PASPA – a nationwide ban of sports betting – was
unconstitutional, thus allowing states to enact their own sports
betting laws. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision 22 states and
the District of Columbia have legalized sports betting. Of those 23
jurisdictions, 15 states have authorized statewide online sports
betting while eight remain retail-only at casinos or retail
locations.
RSI provides customers an array of
leading gaming offerings such as real-money online casino, online
sports betting, and retail sports betting, as well as social gaming,
which involves free-to-play games that use virtual credits that can
be earned or purchased. The company launched their first social
gaming website in 2015 and began accepting real-money bets in the
United States in 2016. The company currently operates online casino
and/or online sports betting in eight states (Colorado, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia).
RSI's Betrivers.com website and phone app went live in Virginia on
Jan. 27, 2021. In addition, the company has secured potential market
access to New York, Ohio, Maryland, Missouri and if certain
conditions are met, Texas.
RSI has been operating online gaming in
Colombia since 2018, a country with a population of approximately 50
million. Online gaming is also authorized in Mexico and Brazil, which
have populations of approximately 128.9 million and 212.6 million,
respectively. The highest populated country in Latin America, Brazil,
legalized sports betting in December 2018.
Real-money online casino and online
sports betting offerings are provided under BetRivers.com and
PlaySugarHouse.com brands in the United States and under RushBet.co
in Colombia.
Experienced gaming operators Neil
Bluhm, Greg Carlin and Richard Schwartz founded Rush Street
Interactive, LP (“RSILP”), which is now an indirect subsidiary of
RSI. Company founders had invested approximately $50 million into
RSILP. This capital was primarily used to fund the development of our
proprietary online gaming platform and offerings, recruit and grow an
experienced team, and expand into new geographic and product markets.
Online casino revenue from slot
machines and table games in New Jersey grew from $277.3 million in
2018 to $461.8 million in 2019 according to the New Jersey Division
of Gaming Enforcement. Furthermore, land-based casino revenue in New
Jersey grew during that same period from $2.51 billion in 2018 to
$2.69 billion in 2019 according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming
Enforcement, showing that land-based casino revenue can grow at the
same time that online casino revenue grows. In 2020, New Jersey
online casino revenue continued to increase to $931.6 million while
revenues from land-based casinos decreased to $1.51 billion.
As of March 22, 2021, RSI had a global
workforce of approximately 264 employees and contractors, with
approximately 37% of people working in technical roles. Approximately
50% of their people are based in the United States with the remaining
50% being based elsewhere in the world, including Canada, Colombia,
Estonia and Mexico.
According to EKG, the United States
generated approximately $1.15 billion in online sports betting
revenue in 2020, despite the impacts of COVID-19 and the
cancellations, postponement, shortening or rescheduling of sporting
events and seasons. Only 35% of the United States currently has
access to online sports betting, according to EKG.
If every U.S. state was to legalize
online casino, based on state level projections from EKG, it is
projected that the U.S. market would generate approximately $20
billion in revenue. Similarly, if every U.S. state was to legalize
online sports betting, based on state level projections from EKG, it
is projected that the U.S. market would generate approximately $15
billion in revenue.
