Rush Street Interactive executives say that BetRivers‘ launch in Alberta has been twice as good as its rollout in Ontario was four years ago.
Speaking on a Q2 earnings call on Wednesday, July 29, CEO Richard Schwartz said the company has seen strong results since launching in Canada’s second regulated iGaming province on July 13, the first day of business in Alberta.
“While it’s still very early days, we’re encouraged by what we’ve seen so far,” Schwartz told investors and analysts. “On a population-adjusted basis, first-time depositors and daily active users are currently tracking at approximately twice the levels we saw in Ontario at the same point following launch. Very early, but we’re excited to watch the Alberta market build over the coming quarters.”
At about five million, Alberta’s population is less than one-third of Ontario’s, which is approximately 16 million.
The Alberta iGaming Corporation is not expected to publish its first market revenue report until October, after its first quarter of business. Ontario, which hosts almost 50 commercial operators running more than 80 licensed iGaming sites, does not break down its monthly regulated iGaming revenue reports by individual operator. Rush Street Interactive leaders said back in February that BetRivers’ online casino share in Ontario was mid- to low single digits, and sports was a little lower.
Schwartz noted that, just as Ontario did in 2022, Alberta is transitioning out of an unregulated market. Unlike some online casinos and sportsbooks that have sought a license in the province, BetRivers did not operate in Alberta prior to regulation.
“Consistent with our experience in Ontario, we expect this to be a gradual build,” the CEO said. “We’re encouraged by the early trends we are seeing there.”
Rush Street Interactive posts strongest revenue growth in 4 years
Schwartz was speaking after Rush Street Interactive reported new quarterly records in revenue (US$393.8m, up 46% year over year), adjusted EBITDA (US$64.6m, up 61% year over year), and net income (US$29.3m, up 1.7% year over year) for the three months ended June 30, 2026.
Its year-over-year revenue increase represented its fastest growth rate in over four years, which Schwartz noted came “even while operating from a significantly larger revenue base.”
Regionally, North American revenue grew 23%. The company added a record number of first-time depositors for the fourth straight quarter, and monthly active users totaled approximately 949,000 across all markets, up 58% compared to Q2 2025. Almost 300,000 of those were in North America, up 51%.
As a result of its strong quarter, Rush Street Interactive raised its guidance for the full year, lifting the revenue projection to between US$1.56bn and US$1.6bn and its AEBITDA guidance to US$245-$265m. That would represent year-over-year growth of 39% and 66% at the midpoints, respectively. That guidance includes BetRivers’ new Alberta operations.
Online casino is BetRivers’ moneymaker
A self-proclaimed online casino-first operator, 72% of Rush Street Interactive’s gaming revenue in Q2 came from that vertical.
“Our casino-first strategy continues to be the foundation of our business,” added the CEO.
An accompanying investor presentation highlights the value that the operator sees in online casino. It noted that its iCasino customers yield an average gross gaming revenue (GGR) that is more than four times higher than an online sports betting-only user. Users of both iCasino and sports have a GGR that is nearly 12x higher than a sports-only user.
Rush Street Interactive offers online casino and/or sports betting in 15 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Alberta is BetRivers’ seventh North American market that allows for both online sports betting and iCasino.
The company said that BetRivers ranks in the top four operators for net online casino revenue across the U.S., and Schwartz added that they have been able to consistently grow market share in North American iCasino markets, which is where they focus their time and investment.
President and Chief Financial Officer Kyle Sauers added on the call that while adjusted sales and marketing expense represented 12.3% of revenue, at $48.6m, in Q2, those costs will go up in Q3’s report, due in no small part to the ramp-up in Alberta.
BetRivers first opened pre-registration for its Alberta platform as far back as early February, so that ramp-up was long. It marked its launch five months later by unveiling an Alberta-focused marketing campaign starring its brand ambassador, Canadian sports broadcaster Dan O’Toole.
“We continue to see attractive player acquisition costs alongside strong player growth, so we expect to continue investing marketing dollars throughout the second half of the year, particularly as we ramp up in Alberta,” explained Sauers. “In fact, because our efficiency continues to improve even as we have been scaling up, we now expect to spend more on marketing than previously planned in the second half.
“As we have always said, when we find strong ROI opportunities, we will increase our marketing spend … Certainly, there is more spend because of Alberta.”
The executives said they expect revenue and EBITDA to be flat in Q3 compared to Q2, mostly as a result of increased marketing spend, but they anticipate big gains by the end of the year.
