Rush Street Interactive nets Delaware Lottery igaming concession

Rush Street Interactive (RSI) has been confirmed as the Delaware Lottery’s choice to develop a statewide online gaming platform in the First State, netting a five-year contract.

The contract runs for an initial five years that can then be renewed on a yearly basis for an additional five-year term pending regulatory approvals.

RSI is currently live in 15 states and the regulated international markets of the Canadian province of Ontario, Colombia, and Mexico. RSI CEO Richard Schwartz said he and RSI were “honored” to be selected as the Delaware Lottery’s preferred partner.

“This partnership is yet another significant milestone for RSI, as the confidence of a state-backed organization, such as the Delaware Lottery, further validates the trust that lottery officials have in our award-winning online platform and customer service,” he explained.

“Building on our proven track record of success in the tri-state area of Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, where RSI was an early entrant in the first online market in the US, we are honored to collaborate with the Delaware Lottery team and the state’s three casinos to offer consumers who are geo-located in Delaware with safe, convenient, and, innovative online gaming experiences,” Schwartz added.

RSI replaces long-standing igaming and poker supplier 888, which had been contracted to provide these services to the Delaware Lottery since 2013, overseeing the transition of the state into the multi-state poker shared liquidity network.

888’s contract expired earlier this year with the Delaware Lottery launching a request for proposals (RFP) tender process inviting prospective operators to take over the contract.

“We look forward to working with the well-respected RSI team,” Delaware Lottery director Helene Keeley said.

“We reviewed proposed bids from other online gaming companies and suppliers, and the combination of experience and commitment to quality products, customer service, and responsible gaming is why we selected RSI.

“We’re delighted to begin this partnership and have no doubt that Delawareans and the customers of Delaware’s three casinos will be thrilled with RSI’s exciting library of offerings and industry-leading customer service,” she added.

Sources have told EGR that there were three bidders for the contract, 888, RSI and an unnamed third operator. An initial applicant, 888 later withdrew its application in May, leaving RSI the only confirmed bidder for the contract after the third unnamed bidder also dropped out.

Sources close to the process have suggested the RFP has been delayed with the Delaware Lottery missing all deadlines it had committed to as part of the process.

It is understood the bid also included complicated implementation processes for types of online gaming which are not currently legal in the state.

Delaware became the first US state to implement comprehensive intrastate iGaming including poker, slots and bingo when the General Assembly passed the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 in June 2012.