Chicago billionaire Neil Bluhm, co-founder of the online casino and sports betting company Rush Street Interactive, has seen his empire flourish as more states have legalized sports betting.
His firm, which he founded in 2012, and has 53 percent stake in, added $1 billion to it assets when RSI merged with the blank check company dMY last month. It was an offshoot of Rush Street Gaming, which owns casinos in three states.
RSI, on the other hand, operates in nine states. Its main competitor is DraftKings, which operates in 11 states. It beats DraftKings in the online gaming market where it commands a 15 percent market share, although DraftKings dominates in the sports betting market, where RSI only has single figures.
RSI offers online sports betting and online casinos. Although it lost $90 million in the first three quarters of last year, sales are expected to grow $320 million this year. It went public last July by merging with a special purpose acquisition company and its stock value has more than doubled since then.
As Bluhm recently told Forbes, “We’re growing like a weed and we’re adding states all the time. The growth potential is tremendous.”
His share of RSI is worth $2.3 billion and his Rush Street Gaming share rounds his net worth up to $6.3 billion.
Bluhm’s empire has two possible roads forward for expansion. Currently sports betting is legal in 13 states and D.C. Far fewer states allow online casinos, but it would be a far more lucrative market if states started to open up to it. And states ARE starting to do that. Bluhm has said he expects more growth to occur in online casinos.
As long as Covid is a factor, online casinos will look good to states as a source of income that isn’t affected by it. States that are looking at allowing online gaming include Florida and New York.
