Rush Street Interactive CEO and Founder, Greg Carlin has been busy over the last twelve months, with the company going through a transitional phase of growth. Carlin has been leading the crusade to bring synergy between online gaming and bricks and mortar casinos. He sat down with our very our Rebecca Liggero Fontana to share his insights on helping the land-based casino expand their reach in the online world.
Liggero Fontana was quick to ask about the exciting developments that have kept Rush Street Interactive in the news, and Carlin was happy to share the latest developments:
“It’s an exciting time for Rush Street Interactive, we’re currently in the process of merging into the SPAC called DMY technology. We’re targeting a close in early December, making the transition from a private company to public company certainly has been an interesting process,” said Carlin.
Carlin added that this was only the beginning with Rush Street Interactive planning to grow the business in 2021, to take advantage of the growth in sports betting in the U.S. market. Carlin pointed out that Rush Street Interactive was already active in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois and Colorado. Carlin said that the company hopes to expand further in 2021 at the conclusion of this deal, with cash in hand. “We’re going to be much better capitalized once the transaction closes,” he said.
In terms of the expansion of land-based casinos into the world of online gaming, Carlin pointed out that its simply not a matter of flicking a switch. According to Carlin land-based casinos continue to see high growth, but he believes once casino and sports betting band together, then they could be a powerful force. “If you look at 2019 as the last sort of a base year, bricks and mortar revenue in New Jersey as an example, it grew seven percent while online also grew 45 percent. I think the two can complement each other,” Carlin added.
While there has been extraordinary growth in the U.S. market, Carlin stressed the need for land-based casinos to create a viable online strategy to avoid the issue of cannibalization.
“Like any business opportunity, there’s winners and losers. Certain operators don’t really have a developed online strategy, maybe they really aren’t focused on it. I think it’ll impact different companies differently so but there’s definitely some concern about cannibalization in the bricks and mortar industry,” he said.
In the full interview, Carlin explains how land-based casino operators can develop an online strategy and he explains the journey of Rush Interactive in the U.S. market. Subscribe at the CalvinAyre.com YouTube channel to see more videos like this as they are published, and if you prefer an audio version, subscribe on Google, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
