Rush Street Interactive Takes Boom Stake, Gains Access in Three New States

Posted on: August 11, 2021, 10:39h. 

Last updated on: August 11, 2021, 01:32h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Online casino operator Rush Street Interactive (NYSE:RSI) is taking a minority stake in mobile games developer Boom Entertainment. It’s a deal that grants the buyer access to three new markets.

RSI Boom
The NBC Sports Predictor App. RSI is taking a stake in Boom Entertainment, operator of the app. (Image: Twitter)

Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed. Privately held Boom Entertainment is a game developer and technology provider. The company is known for developing free-to-play sports gaming apps for clients, including NBC Sports, MSG Network, and Golf. “NBC Sports Predictor” is the company’s flagship free-to-play mobile offering.

Boom will integrate its remote gaming server and license online casino and sports betting games for RSI to make available to its real money and social casino players via RSI’s proprietary online gaming platform,” according to a statement.

Under the terms of the accord, Boom will also develop new custom games for RSI. The iGaming company will have exclusive rights on the games for at least 12 months, “ensuring RSI will be able to offer its players unique and differentiated games to play.”

That could be an advantage for the operator in the hyper-competitive internet casino industry, where competitors are constantly looking to set themselves apart.

New Market Access for RSI

As part of the agreement, RSI gains access to Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico by way of Boom’s established relationships with land-based casinos in those states.

In particular, access to Louisiana could prove lucrative for the operator, because that’s the fifth-largest gaming market in the US. It’s readying mobile sports betting for the start of the upcoming NFL season next month. RSI said it will roll out mobile sports wagering there at some point during the 2021 football season.

Prior to news of the Boom agreement, RSI operated online casinos in four states. Its various offerings are now available in 11 domestic regions and one international market — Colombia — where it offers online casinos and regulated sports wagering.

RSI operates under the BetRivers.com and PlaySugarHouse.com brands and is currently available with either mobile or retail businesses in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Busy Times in iGaming Arena

Rush Street Interactive’s investment in Boom comes at a time of elevated consolidation in the still-new internet casino industry. Earlier this week, DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) announced it’s acquiring Golden Nugget Online Gaming (NASDAQ:GNOG) — RSI’s most direct competitor — for $1.56 billion in stock.

That transaction is stoking rumors RSI is also a takeover target. The stock is up 31.59 percent over the past week, driven mostly by the DraftKings/GNOG news. However, RSI’s market capitalization is just $2.78 billion, indicating any number of cash-rich suitors looking to bolster iGaming profiles could afford to buy the company.

No formal bid for RSI has been publicly revealed. That indicates analyst chatter regarding the company being on the selling block is just speculation at this point.