Rush Street Interactive Q2
The top line
Revenue was up 89% to $122.8m, net loss was down to $14m vs. $50.6m in Q220. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $6.6m vs -$3.7m in Q220. FY guidance raised to $465-$495m from $440-$480m, implying 72% YoY growth at mid-point.
Adjusted advertising and promotions costs were up to $36.9m (30% of revenue) vs. $7.4m in Q220. RSI had $361m on the balance sheet.
RSI has been selected as one of three companies to be allowed to operate mobile sports wagering in Connecticut. The agreement will also enable it to operate in 15 retail locations.
Boxing clever: RSI has taken a minority investment in Boom Entertainment and asked about scale or doing more M&A, CEO Richard Schwartz said: “Our customer service and user experience is what makes us successful.”
“We don’t feel we have to buy access to market share, we can focus on UX and CS to keep growing and that’s what we’ll keep doing. We pioneered community in casino and we’re going to do the same in sports-betting. It’s important to advance innovation but it must resonate with players and that’s something we focus on.”
For all the talk of marketing and innovation in the industry, product developments have to be “relevant to players”, Schwartz added
In-house differentiation: With online betting being mainly “transaction-based”, speed and the ability “to give players insights to make better decisions, reduce friction and build trust” are key. When it comes to casino, “lots of companies have similar games libraries” and the ability to build distinct products in-house is what differentiates operators. “It’s an area we’ve focused a lot on and will (continue to) focus on going forward,” said Schwartz.
From here to maturity: RSI has reached profitability in four states, New Jersey being one of them, but CFO Kyle Sauers wouldn’t reveal the other three and added that the investment mode would continue. “We’re getting profitable as markets mature and as new markets launch there will be investment that will outweigh the more mature markets short term, but we’re excited about these opportunities.”
Profitability was no doubt helped by the launch of live casino in New Jersey; the group said it was now in third spot for casino revenues in NJ and Pennsylvania and expects to reach the same stage in Michigan.
Building a house: Analysts at Macquarie, which recently initiated on RSI, said they were “even more constructive” on the company’s prospects. “With operations in the four major iGaming states, ongoing app updates, and strong share despite bonusing less than the competition, we believe RSI is well positioned to defend its early lead in US online casino,” they wrote.
“Further, we believe the recent DKNG-GNOG transaction is a major positive for iGaming focused companies such as RSI.”
The team at Jefferies noted the deal announced yesterday for RSI to be the exclusive online sports-betting partner to the Connecticut lottery alongside the recent announcement regarding market access in three further states via the Boom deal. “We maintain our view that the value of RSI is supported by its specific capabilities that are driving execution, and which are supported by the accelerating M&A backdrop and the continued proliferation of domestic digital gaming,” the Jefferies team added.
