Rush Street Interactive numbers soar in third quarter
The third quarter of 2026 saw steep, double-digit increases for Rush Street Interactive (RSI) on an across-the-board basis. RSI reported its quarterly results on the evening of 28 October.
Quarterly revenue for RSI leapt 39%, reaching US$385.9 million. Profits vaulted 93%, hitting US$28.7 million and cash flow spiked 73%, to US$62.2 million.
RSI also recorded its highest-ever number of monthly active players in North America. In the United States and Canada, they totaled 300,5712 or 34% higher. In Latin and South America, the player base grew to 607,308, a step up of 46%. Revenue per user per month was US$309 in North America and US$58 a month in Mexico and other southern-hemisphere countries.
Company executives repeated their revenue and cash-flow guidance for the balance of 2026. Full-year revenue was expected to come in at or slightly below US$1.6 billion across the full year while cash flow was thought to hit between US$245 million and US$265 million. Those numbers would represent 39% revenue growth and cash flow increases on the order of anywhere from 59-72%.
In prepared remarks, CEO Richard Schwartz said that “Our third quarter results demonstrated the scale we’ve built into our business model […] Online casino remains the engine of our profitability, and we’re pleased to have reached a new quarterly record this period for monthly active users in North America.”
Schwartz also highlighted players carried over from the second quarter’s World Cup action, as well as growth in Alberta, which went live in the third quarter. There, the CEO said, “while we expect the ramp to be gradual, we’re excited about the opportunities in this new market.”
He concluded, “We enter the fourth quarter with a strong balance sheet, a scalable profitability model, continued marketing efficiency, and the flexibility to be opportunistic on how we invest in long-term growth.”
David McKee is an award-winning journalist who has three decades of experience covering the gaming industry.
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The Backstory
Casino-first model sets the baseline
Rush Street Interactive’s third-quarter surge did not come out of nowhere. The company has spent much of 2026 trying to prove that its business is less dependent on the volatile economics of online sports betting and more anchored in internet casino play, where retention, margins and payback can be stronger. That strategy was already visible in the spring, when executives said a record first quarter reflected the success of a casino-first strategy built around retention and product quality.
The latest results extend that narrative. Revenue, profit and cash flow all rose sharply, while monthly active users reached records in North America and continued to expand at a much faster rate in Latin America. The significance is not just that RSI grew. It is that the growth came while the company was spending more on marketing, launching in Alberta and navigating tax and regulatory changes in Colombia and Brazil.
That combination matters for investors because the online gambling sector has been marked by promotional spending, uneven state-by-state legalization and pressure on operators to show they can grow without sacrificing profitability. RSI has tried to position itself as a disciplined alternative: smaller than the largest U.S. rivals but more exposed to igaming and Latin America, two areas that have carried higher growth expectations.
World Cup momentum became a test of retention
The second quarter offered the clearest catalyst. RSI executives described the World Cup as a long-planned acquisition event that brought new sports bettors onto the platform, particularly in Latin America. On a July earnings call, management said the tournament added about US$10 million to quarterly performance and drove meaningful cross-sell into igaming among first-time Latin American customers, according to a report on how RSI used the World Cup to acquire and cross-sell players.
That created both an opportunity and a risk. The opportunity was that a major soccer event in countries where RSI already operates — the U.S., Canada and Mexico — could deepen brand awareness and feed the casino database. The risk was that some customers would arrive only for the tournament and disappear when the event ended. Chief Financial Officer Kyle Sauers acknowledged at the time that it was too early to know how durable those new customers would be.
The third-quarter numbers suggest RSI retained more of that activity than skeptics feared. Player levels were below the World Cup peak but still high by historical standards, with North American monthly active users and Latin American users both up sharply. That follow-through helps explain why management kept full-year guidance intact even after absorbing higher marketing costs. It also sets up a more demanding comparison in 2027, when the company will have to show that 2026’s sports-driven acquisition translated into lasting casino revenue.
Latin America remains the upside and the complication
Latin America has become central to the RSI investment case, but it has also brought the company’s most visible policy risks. Colombia has been the biggest example. Early in the year, RSI appeared positioned to benefit from the expiration of one tax regime, only for the country to impose a new levy on igaming providers. An analyst report at the time said the company had shed one Colombian tax but gained another, reducing but not eliminating the expected cash-flow benefit.
The issue did not stop there. A 16% special tax on gross gaming revenue remained an overhang through much of 2026, though executives later pointed to a more business-friendly political environment after Colombia’s election. Analysts also focused on the country as a primary growth engine. Jefferies later said Colombian revenue had surged after a value-added tax was suspended and described the market as growing faster than the U.S., while also flagging Mexico and Peru as important igaming growth areas in a note that reiterated confidence in RSI’s growth trajectory.
Brazil showed the other side of the regional equation. When Brazil moved to ban igaming and online sports betting, RSI executives said the decision was disappointing but not a direct blow to their current plan. In a later discussion, they argued Brazil’s regulatory path was unusually unpredictable and unlikely to signal a broader shift across neighboring markets. The company’s stance, covered in a report on Brazil’s ban and RSI’s broader Americas outlook, was that Colombia, Mexico and other regulated markets still offered expansion potential despite periodic tax and political shocks.
Alberta and U.S. states frame the next expansion phase
North America has been a steadier but slower-growing pillar. RSI’s U.S. sports betting operations are generally described as profitable, but management and analysts have repeatedly emphasized that igaming is the more attractive opportunity. That is why potential legalization in states such as Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and New York has become important to the company’s longer-term story.
Executives have tied that outlook to state budget pressure. As federal support shifts and Medicaid obligations rise, RSI has argued that lawmakers may become more receptive to online casino revenue. The company has pointed to Virginia as especially attractive, with management comparing its market size to Michigan, where RSI has meaningful share. The District of Columbia and Indiana have also been discussed as nearer-term possibilities, while Illinois and New York are seen as states with strong fiscal motivation.
Canada adds a more immediate test. Alberta went live in the third quarter, but management has repeatedly warned that the market will build gradually. RSI has said Alberta is tracking ahead of Ontario at a comparable point, though legacy operators had an early promotional advantage. The launch also pushed up marketing and bonusing expenses, a factor that weighed on investor sentiment after the second quarter. The third-quarter results therefore matter because they show RSI absorbing those launch costs while maintaining profitability and cash-flow guidance.
Prediction markets add noise, not yet a thesis change
Prediction markets have become a recurring question for gambling operators, especially as event contracts blur the line between financial products and sports wagering. RSI has applied for a Commodity Futures Trading Commission license, but executives have consistently downplayed the idea that the company is preparing to pivot aggressively into the category.
Management’s position has been defensive and optional. Schwartz has said the application was meant to prevent RSI from being caught flat-footed if the market changes, not to chase a crowded sports event-contract business. He has also suggested that prediction markets may appeal more to sharp bettors than to the mass-market casino customers RSI prioritizes. That distinction is important because it reinforces the company’s core argument: RSI is not trying to win primarily through high-volume, low-margin sports betting. It is trying to acquire customers efficiently and migrate them into higher-value casino products.
For now, executives say they have not seen material cannibalization. They also appear encouraged that regulators are scrutinizing whether prediction markets are drifting into casino-style gaming. Until rules are clearer, prediction markets are likely to remain an option value story for RSI rather than a driver of forecasts.
Why the third quarter raises the bar
RSI enters the final quarter with a stronger balance sheet, no debt and continuing authorization for share repurchases. That financial position gives management flexibility to spend into attractive acquisition markets, support Alberta’s ramp, pursue technology or regional tuck-in deals and return capital when shares are viewed as undervalued.
The stakes are higher because investors now have evidence that RSI can grow through a complicated operating backdrop. The company has managed a World Cup spike, Colombian tax changes, the opening of Alberta, Brazil uncertainty and higher marketing costs while still posting steep gains. That strengthens management’s case that its model scales.
It also raises expectations. RSI will need to prove that Latin American growth can withstand shifting tax regimes, that Alberta can mature beyond launch promotions and that U.S. igaming legalization eventually resumes. Above all, it must show that the World Cup customers acquired in 2026 become durable casino players rather than a one-year lift. The third quarter supports the company’s thesis, but it also makes execution in 2027 more consequential.
