Rush Street Inks Sports Betting Deal with Michigan Tribal Casino

Posted on: June 23, 2020, 12:00h. 

Last updated on: June 23, 2020, 10:18h.

Steve Bittenbender Read More
Expertise: Legislation, Sports Betting, Horse Racing.

Rush Street Interactive announced on Monday that it has secured a partnership with a Michigan tribal casino to provide a retail sportsbook.

BetRivers Michigan sports betting
Rush Street Gaming will operate the sportsbook at the Little River Casino in Michigan, according to a deal announced Monday. (Image: MLive.com)

The Chicago-based company reached a deal with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians to be the sports betting service provider for the tribe’s casino resort in Manistee. The casino is located on the Lake Michigan coast of the state’s lower peninsula.

The Little River Casino Resort expects to open its sportsbook early in the third quarter, which would put the opening around the time football season is expected to begin this year. Most college football teams anticipate starting their season on Labor Day weekend, with the National Football League set to kick off the following weekend.

Rush Street’s ability to provide a road map of how they’ve enabled other land-based casinos to operate market-leading sportsbooks kept us from having to reinvent the wheel,” said a statement from Andrew Gentile, Little River general manager.

Michigan will become the fifth state where Rush Street operates a retail sportsbook. In March, the company opened a BetRivers sportsbook at the Rivers Des Plaines casino near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The company also operates retail books in Indiana, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The casino reopened to guests on June 1.

Online Betting Included in Deal

Online sports betting won’t be available in Michigan until next year. But Rush Street announced that the partnership with Little River includes an agreement to operate a mobile app co-branded with Rush Street’s BetRivers.com.

The application will be available to residents across the state once state gaming regulators determine the schedule for launching mobile. In the meantime, residents can go to Mi.BetRivers.com to register for immediate notification when the betting app becomes available.

Rush Street operates mobile sports betting apps in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

It launched the BetRivers Illinois application last Thursday after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed an executive order waiving in-person registration for sports betting apps while casinos there remain closed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Once mobile sports betting arrives in Michigan, bettors there will be able to register directly online.

Soccer, Golf Popular in Illinois Opening Weekend

Rush Street provided details about BetRivers.com’s first weekend of activity in Illinois.

With England’s Premier League and Spain’s La Liga soccer resuming play this past weekend, four European soccer leagues accounted for 43 percent of the handle wagered on the only sports wagering app available in Illinois. In terms of actual bets placed, soccer held a 37 percent share.

The most popular event for betting in the state was the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Tournament. The four-day event accounted for about 36 percent of all bets and 22 percent of the betting handle.

The main event for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night, the heavyweight fight between Curtis Blaydes and Alex Volkov, accounted for 18 percent of the bets placed on BetRivers in Illinois.