Rush Street CEO: Alberta A 'Significant' ICasino, Sports Betting Opportunity
Rush Street Interactive Inc. is keen to bring its "casino-first" strategy to Alberta, and BetRivers' parent business thinks it could get that opportunity even earlier than it previously anticipated.
- Rush Street Interactive thinks Alberta could release a regulated online sports wagering and iCasino market by the end of June, developing a significant new opportunity for its BetRivers brand.
- Alberta regulators are establishing a competitive framework that will expand beyond Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission's Play Alberta to include private operators such as BetRivers, PointsBet, and DraftKings.
- RSI is especially positive about the iCasino sector, mentioning its lucrative performance history in other North American markets and strong performance in Ontario as reasons for confidence.
Richard Schwartz, CEO of the online gaming company, stated Tuesday that Alberta's work on a competitive iGaming market "is advancing toward a launch timeline that could happen in the coming quarters, faster than we were preparing for throughout our last incomes call."
"This represents a significant chance for us to utilize our success in other North American online gambling establishment markets, particularly provided our strong performance in Ontario and our recognized and growing brand name recognition throughout Canada," Schwartz said.
The RSI CEO included more specifics during the question-and-answer period of the company's latest earnings call, stating that the Alberta sports wagering and iCasino launch could occur around completion of June.
"We're hopeful, and it appears like the regulators there are moving at an extremely determined pace," Schwartz said on Tuesday. "It looks like a Q2 opportunity is within the possibility towards completion of that quarter."
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The C-suite's comments underscore the extremely genuine possibility that Alberta will permit private-sector iGaming operators to release in its regulated market well before the next NFL season rolls around.
Alberta regulators are hard at work on the brand-new regulative structure, which will bring the variety of authorized iGaming operators in the Western Canadian province from one, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission's Play Alberta, to hopefully many.
BetRivers will be among those operators, and it has currently begun registering customers ahead of launch day. Other notable brand names prepare to go live with online sports betting and iCasino in the province as well, such as DraftKings.
DraftKings feels pretty certain that the launch of its online sportsbook/casino in Alberta is "around the corner," and is anticipating its financials accordingly: https://t.co/1R5ZCywuHk @Covers
Chicago-based RSI is especially about a somewhat underdiscussed element of Alberta's new iGaming market, which is that it will enable operators to use both online sports betting and online gambling establishment betting.
The iCasino side of the iGaming market is a big selling point for Alberta, and particularly so for a "casino-first" brand name like BetRivers. Alberta is likewise following the example of Ontario for its iGaming market. There, most of betting and earnings comes from online gambling establishment betting, including the items offered by RSI's BetRivers, which is a certified operator in the province.
For example, Ontario reported nearly $8.3 billion in money wagers via its regulated online gambling establishments this past December, compared to about $1.1 billion for its mobile sportsbooks.
Kyle Sauers, president and primary monetary officer for RSI, stated the company's share of the online casino market in Ontario "is kind of mid- to low-single digits," while its online sports betting share is a "little bit lower."
"The other thing I would simply explain, and we have actually mentioned this in the past, but every North American online gambling establishment market that we have actually launched in, we have actually been successful by the fourth quarter of operations," Sauers included. "And we do not see a reason that that should be different with Alberta.