Rush Street Interactive on Tuesday said it has secured market access opportunities in Ohio, Maryland and Missouri via a strategic partnership agreement with Penn National Gaming.
Under the agreement, RSI will have the ability to offer its BetRivers.com real-money online casino and sports betting platform for up to 20 years in Ohio, Maryland and Missouri through potential second skins in each of those states, subject to license availability, state law and regulatory approvals.
Upon and following the launch of the skins, RSI said will compensate Penn National with “industry-standard payments” for market access.
The parties said the agreement also provides RSI with a right of first offer for a potential skin in Texas through Penn National. This skin would be subject to, among other factors, state law and regulatory approvals, they noted.
RSI currently operates online gaming sites available for customers in eight states with a combined population of more than 68 million: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
According to RSI, the operator now has the potential, with first or second skins, to access online gaming markets reaching more than 35% of the US population. RSI says it is the market leader in the three most populous states that have legalized retail sports betting: Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York.
“We are pleased to gain potential market access to three new states as we continue the execution of our strategy to gain access and bring our best-in-class online gaming offerings to key markets across the United States,” Richard Schwartz, president of RSI, said in a statement. “The addition of Ohio, Maryland and Missouri to our market access portfolio, specifically, builds on RSI’s success in neighboring states and will create enhanced marketing efficiencies for our BetRivers.com brand.”
Schwartz added RSI continues to engage in “productive dialogue” with industry participants, such as tribal and commercial casinos and other stakeholders, to further its expansion into new states.
“We expect to continue entering into additional market access arrangements in the future, as other opportunities arise,” he said.
