Online casino gambling could be at least a year away in New York state, but if or when it passes, Rush Street Interactive will be ready.
Richard Schwartz, CEO of Rush Street, owners of Bet Rivers Sportsbook, said in a recent earnings call that he believes online casinos will be coming to the Empire State.
“The industry is aligned and in a way that I haven’t seen before and you’re starting to see a lot of investments being made and lobbying efforts to legalize online casino in a way that you haven’t seen over the last decade,” Schwartz said. “That’s extremely exciting. I think it’s clear why casino is a larger, more profitable category, the industry and legislators are realizing the value of the combination, how effective it is.”
Schwartz said it is a long process.
“The first step is to get a sponsor of the bill excited, interested introducing a bill and we’re starting to see that,” Schwartz said. “And you’re starting to see a lot of effort being made and lobbying dollars being applied towards this goal.”
The enthusiasm might be there, but according to state Senator Joe Addabbo, time is running out for a bill to be passed this year. Addabbo is sponsoring Senate Bill 4856, which he introduced February 15.
Addabbo said he has had a hard time trying to get other senators to back the bill. He said the bill could be dead by next week.
“I can’t be the only one,” Addabbo told US Bets. “It can’t just be one legislator.”
Schwartz said it might not be this year, but It does seem inevitable that online casinos will be allowed in New York.
“I think you’re starting to really get momentum being built,” Schwartz said, “which of course is outstanding for us because of all the companies in the industry, we think we may be one of the ones haven’t disproportionately large share of casino revenues and we do particularly well in the casino markets. So for us, this type of momentum is very welcomed.”
Schwartz added that he thinks BetRivers would be well positioned should online casinos become legalized. Since they have a sportsbook already in New York, they would be automatically eligible for an online casino license.
“I think that there is a huge advantage to already being opened in the market,” Schwartz said. “We’ve got a database of players, we’ve got a brand that people are aware of. So those are big advantages.”
In fact, Schwartz said they have more of a presence in casinos than sports betting.
“I think one thing to remember is, in most markets that have both casino and sports, we typically carry three to five times the share in casino than we do in sports,” Schwartz said. “So, if we’ve got — in Illinois, if you’ve got double-digit share and in Indiana or New York we’ve got low single-to-mid single digit share in sports, if we could get three times that in any of those states, that’s pretty darn meaningful for us.”
