
Rush Street Interactive (RSI) has published its Q2 results, for the three-month period ending June 30, 2024.
RSI Q2 Report
The sports betting and online casino business reported a record $220.4m in revenue, a 34% growth when compared to the same period last year.
Interestingly, when looking at the H1 figures, the $437.8m in revenue is one point less with a 33% increase annually.
Richard Schwartz, RSI CEO, said: “We are thrilled to announce another quarter of record-breaking revenues and adjusted EBITDA.
“The first half of the year has seen our revenue grow by 34% coupled with a $46m improvement in Adjusted EBITDA compared to last year.
“The improvement in our results is a direct testament to the strategic decisions we have made over recent years, as well as constantly refining and bettering our approach to attracting and retaining players.”
Net loss was $0.3m, a significant improvement when compared to the $16.7m figure from 2023.
Also, the adjusted EBITDA was $21.4m during this quarter, compared to $1.2m in adjusted EBITDA during Q2 2023.
Analysis
Schwartz continued: “Our strategic initiatives have fostered a balanced growth across both iCasino and online sports in existing and new markets.
“For instance, in our long-standing markets of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Michigan, we experienced our highest level of revenue growth in over two years during the second quarter.
“In Delaware, our newest North American market, we continue to excel.”
The specific jurisdictions and players are something that should be highlighted, too.
While Monthly Active Users (MAUs) were up 24% to 164,000 in North America, the MAUs figures jumped 79% in Latin America to 288,000.
Revenue from LatAm was also up 73%, also marking a record amount. As part of this, RushBet only debuted in Peru a few days ago, which was described as the "next milestone" in the company's plans.
“We foresee further growth opportunities, an example of which is our launch in Peru last week.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to innovate, grow and deliver value to our customers.
“We are confident we are well on our way to becoming a leader in online gaming across the Americas.”
It’s been no secret that sports betting companies have been having difficulties in the US in finding any sort of profitability, just take DraftKings for example. So what is RSI doing right?
Well, it seems like perhaps the best way to make a sportsbook profitable in the short term is to make it an online casino, first and foremost – especially in LatAm.
RSI operates across three main sectors, iGaming, online sports betting and retail sports betting.
In Delaware, where it “continued to excel”, as well and Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Michigan where RSI saw “record revenue growth” – all of these have the RSI iCasino live in their jurisdictions.
Notably, as do Colombia, Mexico, Ontario and Peru. Of course it makes sense, while sports betting takes some time to provide net profit, iGaming can achieve that much quicker. Not only that, but it also draws in customers and creates some level of brand loyalty while sports betting finds its footing.
This is seen most prominently in the Social Gaming Casino & Sportsbook product RSI released via BetRivers. The casual, free-to-play platform gives users the chance to experience iGaming and online sports betting before it’s been regulated in that area.
On the website, RSI explains that it uses “the same platform for Social Gaming as for our Online Gaming, which enables our partners to cost-effectively pre-register qualified bettors in advance of iGaming legalization”, which ties back to building brand loyalty to increase long-term profitability.
This isn’t the only brand loyalty initiative by RSI either, with the release of a promotional free-to-play bingo platform, the Mike Francesa podcast, Poker Night on Youtube and Nigel Seeley’s Betting Weekly Studios.
A total of 70% of Francesa's audience comes from jurisdictions in which RSI operates, Poker Night had 39 million minutes watched during Q2 and Betting Week Studios just saw record amounts of views too.
It’s an accepted fact that brand loyalty will lead to long-term revenue in sports betting, but perhaps RSI has seen the potential of that brand loyalty in ways that others haven’t yet.