Rush Street Interactive (RSI) earns most of its revenue by operating online gambling products for customers, not by licensing software to other gambling companies. Its FY2025 accounts show that direct-to-consumer activity generated more than 99% of total revenue. Yet RSI does not build every component behind those products: it runs a proprietary online gaming platform while buying sportsbook trading services and licensing much of its casino content. The distinction determines which revenue RSI earns, what it pays partners and where it remains dependent on suppliers. For wider corporate context, see our Rush Street Interactive company overview.
How Rush Street Interactive Makes Money
RSI reports two business models. Business-to-consumer (B2C) is overwhelmingly the larger: it offers online casino, sports betting and, in permitted markets, poker, alongside social games through websites or apps.
Business-to-business (B2B) is smaller. RSI primarily provides retail sportsbook services to land-based businesses, such as casinos, for a monthly commission. Partners provide the venue and local commercial relationship; RSI supports management, technology and trading.
| Model | Who Uses or Pays for the Service | Main Economic Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| B2C | Customers playing casino games, betting on sport, playing poker or using social games | RSI recognises gaming or social revenue under the applicable product rules; more than 99% of group revenue in FY2025 |
| B2B | Land-based sportsbook partners buying operational services | RSI primarily earns a monthly commission linked to the partner's retail sportsbook revenue |
Those descriptions are based on RSI's Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025. Its B2C contribution exceeded 98% in FY2024, too. The figures describe consolidated revenue composition for those periods; they are not a breakdown of customer numbers, brand profitability or every contractual relationship.
Some partner agreements allow RSI to operate a sportsbook at a land-based venue itself, recognising net betting revenue rather than only a commission. The agreement and legal operator matter more than the physical counter. Our RSI brands, products and subsidiaries guide distinguishes brands from the companies behind them.
Revenue by Product: Casino, Sports Betting, Poker and Social Gaming
The most useful distinction is between customer activity and recognised revenue. Deposits put money into a player account; stakes create gambling exposure. Neither automatically equals company revenue. The method of recognising revenue changes with the product.
| Product or Service | How the Customer or Partner Uses It | How RSI Earns Revenue | Essential Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online casino, excluding poker | Customers play house-banked slots or table games | Total bets minus winning payouts and customer incentives, adjusted for changes in progressive jackpot reserves | Stakes are not sales; game-content fees and gaming taxes remain separate costs |
| Online sportsbook | Customers place fixed-odds bets on sporting events | Bets minus winning payouts and incentives, adjusted for changes in unsettled wagers | Results and settlement timing can change recognised revenue between periods |
| Peer-to-peer online poker | Players compete against each other, including in tournaments | Rake from games and tournament fees; reported poker rake is reduced by value returned to players | RSI is generally not betting against each poker player as the house |
| Social gaming | Users spend free or, where permitted, purchased virtual credits | Purchased credits create deferred revenue; RSI recognises revenue when credits are redeemed | Virtual credits have no monetary value and cannot be withdrawn as cash. |
| B2B retail sportsbook services | A land-based partner receives sportsbook support | Usually a monthly commission calculated by reference to the partner's sportsbook revenue | Some separate retail arrangements are operated directly by RSI instead |
Betting handle, recognised revenue and accounting profit are different quantities. RSI describes casino revenue as generally less volatile than sportsbook revenue in its experience, not as a guaranteed fixed margin.
When poker customers play each other, RSI typically collects a capped rake or entry fees, not the losing side of every hand. Player liquidity matters: enough active players are needed for cash games and tournaments. BetRivers Poker illustrates this model, but its availability must be checked market by market.
Social games can produce revenue from permitted credit purchases while building brand familiarity. RSI says they may build audiences before real-money gaming is authorised and encourage crossover where local law permits it. That describes RSI's intended customer journey, not a measured conversion rate.
RSI's Technology Stack: What Is Proprietary and What Is Supplied?
Understanding Rush Street Interactive technology means separating owned software from supplied services. Its FY2025 Form 10-K describes proprietary modules for personalisation, customer relationship management, analytics, bonusing, website operations and regulatory reporting. But not every game, odds engine or verification service is built in-house.
| Technology Layer | RSI's Role | Outside Supplier or Dependency | Why the Boundary Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Websites, apps and account experience | Develops and operates its customer-facing platform, product interfaces and configurable management tools | Integrated services and externally sourced components may still be used | RSI can shape the player journey without owning every underlying system |
| Sportsbook trading and risk | Integrates sports betting into its platform and operates the customer proposition | Kambi Group plc provides the integrated sportsbook platform and core trading and risk-management services | RSI's branded sportsbook is not an entirely in-house odds and trading system |
| Casino games and content | Curates and integrates games, including a small number of proprietary casino titles developed exclusively for RSI | Much of the catalogue is licensed from third-party studios, including customised supplier games | Content licences often carry revenue-sharing costs and geographic limits |
| Online poker | Operates a proprietary poker platform and game experience | Hosting and certain intellectual-property or infrastructure services can still involve third parties | The cost profile differs from routinely licensed casino games, but is not cost-free |
| Payments, identification and location | Incorporates transaction, customer and compliance functions into operations | Processing, geolocation, know-your-customer and hosting services involve external providers | The platform still depends on infrastructure outside RSI's direct control |
The sportsbook split is independently visible in Kambi's 28 August 2024 partnership-extension announcement, which describes its trading and risk-management services being integrated into RSI's own websites, apps and gaming platform. The relationship began in 2018. RSI's FY2025 filing also identifies Kambi as the supplier of its integrated risk and trading platform. Kambi is neither the owner of BetRivers nor an RSI subsidiary.
Most casino game content comes from suppliers under licence and revenue-sharing arrangements, although RSI has proprietary blackjack variants, bonus features and poker technology. Control over navigation, promotions and accounts does not remove game-licensing costs.
I would describe RSI as a platform-owning gambling operator with an integrated supplier network: neither a pure software vendor nor a completely self-contained developer. Our history and acquisitions guide traces some of these technology relationships.
Where the Costs and Partner Payments Go
Even after customer winnings and incentives have been reflected in gaming revenue, RSI still incurs substantial operating costs. The FY2025 accounts identify several recurring categories; their precise rates vary by agreement and jurisdiction.
- Market-access and revenue-share payments. In many regulated US markets, RSI works with a local licensed casino, lottery or another permitted partner. A fee or share of revenue can compensate that partner for access and related rights. Market access is not itself a gambling licence.
- Content and technology suppliers. Third-party casino studios may receive a percentage of revenue earned from their games. Sportsbook trading services, data, streaming, hosting, location services and identity checks carry their own costs. RSI does not publish a universal Kambi fee percentage that can be applied to every bet.
- Gaming taxes and payment charges. Jurisdictions impose different taxes, sometimes on revenue and sometimes using wager-based measures. Payment processing affects deposits and withdrawals, while chargebacks create additional exposure.
- People, product development and marketing. Technology, customer support, staff and promotions carry costs. A reusable platform does not guarantee marketing payback.
This is not a single fixed deduction from the betting handle. The casino content mix, sports results, partner contract and jurisdictional tax structure can make two markets with similar betting volumes economically quite different. RSI says its proprietary poker platform and casino games generally carry lower third-party fees than licensed titles, although hosting and intellectual-property costs still apply.
The practical test is therefore how much revenue remains after winnings and incentives, and what it costs to generate and support that revenue. A bigger handle does not establish higher profit. Actual year-by-year results, cash flow and expense lines belong in our RSI financial results analysis.
Customer Acquisition, Retention and Product Development
RSI's commercial model joins customer acquisition with ongoing product use. In a newly authorised market, it may secure a partner, configure its platform, promote the local offering and then refine the experience using customer activity data. Its own software lets its teams adjust interfaces, promotions and account journeys without rebuilding the entire consumer product for each launch.
The FY2025 Form 10-K describes loyalty features, customer segmentation, personalised offers and real-time bonusing, as well as social games intended to engage audiences where real-money gambling is restricted. The filing does not establish a retention lead over rivals or a positive return from every marketing campaign.
In a 2022 industry interview, CEO Richard Schwartz emphasised retaining customers and building product engagement rather than relying solely on high marketing spend. That is useful evidence of management's thinking at the time, not an audited measurement of FY2026 customer behaviour. The economic question remains whether incremental revenue from a customer eventually exceeds acquisition, promotional, servicing and supplier costs.
Product control may help RSI test and improve parts of the customer experience faster, but it does not eliminate the need to integrate external game content or comply with differing market rules. Nor does a customer account in one regulated territory automatically confer permission to offer the same gambling products elsewhere.
Regulated Operations and Third-Party Dependencies
RSI's technology works inside a regulated operating model. Before launching real-money products, the company must establish the relevant legal and commercial arrangements, obtain or operate under appropriate permissions and configure the platform for the jurisdiction. Some US markets involve land-based partners; requirements differ internationally and by product.
Account verification, age and identity checks, geolocation, payment monitoring, responsible-gambling functions and regulatory reporting are therefore part of the operating system, not merely extras in an app. RSI's platform includes compliance and reporting tools, while specialised vendors may supply pieces of identity verification, location technology and processing. Having such controls is not proof that failures or customer harm can never occur.
There are also two separate dependency questions. Commercially, an operator can depend on a local partner's rights and on the cost of supplier contracts. Technically, disruption affecting trading services, payments, games, hosting or security can affect the player experience even when RSI owns the main application. These are exposures inherent in the disclosed structure, not allegations of a particular outage.
An affiliated bricks-and-mortar operator such as Rush Street Gaming should not automatically be treated as an owned subsidiary of the public RSI company simply because the businesses share history or relationships. Our RSI ownership and management guide explains that distinction. For the specific legal operators and permissions, see RSI markets, partners and licences; broader scenarios appear in RSI risks and opportunities.
What the Model Can and Cannot Scale
My reading is that RSI's most reusable asset is its proprietary gaming platform, including customer-facing features and back-office tools for analytics, operations and compliance. These can be adapted across markets as the business expands. That creates potential operating leverage, especially when products can share marketing and support capabilities. It does not mean each new market is inexpensive. Licensing, local partners, gaming taxes, content costs, customer acquisition and Kambi's sportsbook services remain material considerations.
The FY2025 B2C concentration also makes the business easier to classify. RSI is primarily exposed to the economics and regulation of running gambling products, rather than collecting licence fees from unrelated software clients. Whether that structure ultimately rewards shareholders depends on realised results, capital needs and valuation. These separate questions are examined in our RSI shares and chart analysis.