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Rush Street Won’t Lean Into Sports Prediction Markets
Posted on: July 30, 2026, 11:38h.
Last updated on: July 30, 2026, 11:38h.
Key Points
- Rush Street Interactive said it doesn’t intend to focus on sports event contracts
- Company filed for a Designated Contract Market (DCM) license in May
- Says that filing is about maintaining flexibility
If Rush Street Interactive (NYSE: RSI) enters the prediction market space, it’s unlikely to make sports event contracts a focal point of that effort.
On the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call with analysts, co-founder and CEO Richard Schwartz acknowledged Rush Street filed for a Designated Contract Market (DCM) license in May, indicating prediction markets are on its radar, but he made clear that sports derivatives aren’t the impetus behind that filing.
“As we have stated previously, we continue to operate with a casino-first focus and do not intend to lean into the crowded sports-focused prediction market space,” Schwartz said in his introductory remarks. “However, the prediction market landscape is highly dynamic, and we will continue to monitor developments in this space. And this filing ensures we have the flexibility to navigate all possible outcomes.”
While prediction markets were a hot topic on the call, the gaming company didn’t provide specific updates on the status of its DCM filing.
Rush Street Keeping Its Eye on iGaming Ball
Under its BetRivers brand, Rush Street Interactive offers online sports betting in 15 states and two Canadian provinces as well as three Latin American countries, but in the U.S. and Canada, the operator’s focus has long been on iGaming over sports wagering. That’s a sign Schwartz’s comments about not leaning into sports event contracts are credible.
Internet casinos, not sports wagering, are where the Rush Street bread is buttered. That form of wagering accounts for significantly more of the operator’s revenue than does sports betting and iGaming is the catalyst behind the company’s record-breaking second-quarter results as well as another increase to its full-year guidance.
Schwartz didn’t go into deep detail regarding how a Rush Street prediction market offering could shape up, if it comes to life at all, but he was clear the DCM filing is largely about being prepared.
“We do view the applications as a way to preserve our strategic flexibility to maintain our optionality, as you just mentioned, and ensure that we’re not caught flat-footed should the market or regulatory environment evolve in a way that becomes relevant for our business,” he said on the call in response to a question from JPMorgan analyst Daniel Politzer. “So it’s really just being prepared and preserving optionality.”
Rush Street Smart to Limit Sports Prediction Market Exposure
Should Rush Street earnestly pursue prediction markets, the strategy of not embracing sports derivatives would likely prove prescient because those event contracts are the source of legal and regulatory scrutiny facing the industry.
Specific to Rush Street, eschewing sports event contracts is relevant for another reason. iGaming is legal in eight states and at least a dozen more are considering legalizing it to raise revenue. It’s possible that regulators in those jurisdictions won’t look favorably on operators that are engaged with sports prediction markets.
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