New partnership
Rush Street Interactive (RSI) has signed a new sports betting deal with the Little River Casino Resort in Michigan, operated by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. Based on the partnership agreement, RSI will provide retail and online sports betting, plus online casino gaming.
Michigan started offering retail sports betting in March, but the new industry was disrupted just days later by the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, the Gaming Control Board opened the application process for online gaming supplier licensing. The online gaming industry in the state is expected to begin next year.
The sports betting deal
RSI will provide sports betting services via a new retail sportsbook located in the casino. The facility should open in the third quarter of this year. Online sports betting would follow later, along with online casino gaming, as regulations allow.
kept us from having to reinvent the wheel”
Andrew Gentile, the general manager of Little River Casino Resort, stated that Rush Street Interactive’s successful track record as a provider of retail sportsbooks in other states like Illinois and Pennsylvania is what led the company to choose RSI as its partner.
“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,” Gentile said.
Richard Schwartz, the president of Rush Street Interactive, commented as well, stating that the RSI team sees this new partnership as an opportunity to give a lift to the property with the growing popularity of sports betting.
DraftKings partners with Bay Mills
The RSI and Little River Casino Resort venture is one of two sports betting deals to culminate in Michigan this month. In early June, DraftKings announced a new sports betting partnership with Bay Mills Resort & Casino. DraftKings will provide mobile and retail sports betting for the venue.
Michigan marks the eighth mobile market and seventh retail sports betting market for DraftKings. The company has brick-and-mortar sportsbook agreements in Colorado, Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York, in addition to Michigan.