RSI CEO: Sweepstakes proliferation necessitates US igaming legislation
Richard Schwartz claims a “Wild West mentality” has led to the popularization of the vertical across the US, as he calls on lawmakers to regulate icasino to push back against the sector
Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz has slammed sweepstakes gaming products in the US for sidestepping gambling legislation in regulated states.
Earlier this month, the Mississippi State Senate approved a bill to ban online sweepstakes casinos. The bill passed with an overwhelming 44-1 majority vote.
Speaking during the RushBet, BetRivers, and PlaySugarHouse parent’s 2024 earnings call, Schwartz claimed sweepstakes products were harmful to players as they looked to bypass state legislation.
He said: “At the end of the day you have a product that is online casino, that looks and feels and plays like a regulated online casino product. [But] is not regulated, not taxed, not protected, and dominant in the markets around the country right now because there’s a free-for-all and a proliferation of a Wild West mentality.
“I think that is ultimately surprising when you get to some of the land-based casinos opposing regulated online casino.
“You don’t hear what efforts are being put into stopping the sort of unlicensed activity that’s proliferating in the states today. Sweepstakes is having an impact.
“Everyone can come with research that tries to make any point they want, but ultimately it is a product that is trying to circumvent the gambling laws on a state-by-state level.”
Schwartz went on to note the proliferation of sweepstakes operators meant it further clarified the need for state lawmakers to focus on bringing legalized online casino to pass.
Only seven US states have live, legal online casino and, while some markets have attempted to introduce legislation in 2025, success has been hard to find, with Indiana a notable state that failed to progress legalisation.
The RSI CEO added: “Ultimately, the existence of this activity is a really great accelerator in addition to the tax needs of the states to legalize online casino because online casino is already existing. I think there’s some winning arguments in favor of accelerating icasino legislation to address the issue.”
Company CFO Kyle Sauers highlighted that online casino markets will form a key part of the operator’s growth strategy moving forward.
He said: “We’re expecting growth in almost all our markets. There’s certainly an expectation that much more of our absolute growth is coming from markets that include icasino.
“That’s where we’ve been putting more of our investment dollars from marketing. It’s where we see higher player values, where we offer really great differentiation in the product and obviously have been continuing to have a lot of success in Q4 [2024] and so far in the start of Q1 [2025].”
As per RSI’s Q4 investor deck, as well as holding the monopoly in Delaware, it is the third-largest igaming firm in Pennsylvania and fourth in both West Virginia and Michigan.
Looking at RSI’s financial results for full-year 2024, the operator generated revenue of $924.1m , representing a 33.7% year on year (YOY) increase when compared to 2023.
Adjusted EBITDA for the year totaled $92.5m, skyrocketing more than 1,000% YOY from 2023’s return of $8.2m.
Accounting for revenue costs of $602.0m, advertising costs of $158.6m, $106.9m of administrative expenses, and depreciation costs of $32.2m, total expenses for the year rose 22.1% YOY to $899.8m.
After income tax expenses and other losses attributable to non-controlling interests, overall profit for the year came to $2.4m, compared to an $18.3m loss in 2023.
Focusing solely on Q4 2024, revenue was a record figure of $254.2m, up 31.1% YOY. Net income for the fourth quarter came to $2m, up from a $1.7m loss in Q4 2023.
Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 landed at $30.6m, representing a 166.1% jump YOY and another record for the operator.
During Q4, RSI’s monthly active users (MAUs) in the US and Canada were approximately 205,000, up 28% YOY. MAUs in Latam and Mexico were around 348,000, representing a 71% YOY increase.
The average revenue per monthly active user (ARPMAU) in North America was $346 during Q4 2024, up slightly from $345 the year prior.
ARPMAU in Latam was $39 in the last quarter of 2024, down from $42 in Q4 2023.
Despite the results, RSI’s stock is down 10% at the time of writing to $11.97.