Just this month, Poker Night in America returned to the tables. The crew and players took to the tables at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida for six days of playing and filming August 4-9. Players and fans alike celebrated the opportunity to play PNIA again.
The six days of PNIA action included several event final tables from the Seminole tournament series happening there at the time. There were also cash games, one set as a reunion of players and another as a high roller. The $25/$50 reunion game included players like Shaun Deeb, Matt Glantz, Jonathan Little, and Ethan Yau. The high-stakes game was a $100/$200 and brought Deeb back, along with others like Jeremy Ausmus and Jerry Wong.
Fans were more than a little excited to see players back in action and new episodes on the horizon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDt88kYtPtg
Less than one week later, Rush Street Interactive acquired Poker Night in America.
Not a Total Surprise
Those who watch gambling financials closely probably saw it coming. When Rush Street Interactive released its quarterly financials during the first week of August, there was an interesting little highlight. After mentioning the online casino and sportsbooks in Mexico and Canada, along with West Virginia in America, as well as a retail sportsbook at BetRivers, there was a little tidbit.
“Expanded content production and creation capabilities with the acquisition of Poker Night in America”
A little bit of a deeper dive into the financials presentation showed some photos of various podcasts, news programs, and Poker Night in America that aired on the CBS Sports Network. This was on the page regarding the BetRivers Network (Media Production) discussing Rush Street’s “in-house media outlet” that “produces custom audio and visual content for bettors.” One of the notes on that page indicated the goal of “adding poker content to engage an incremental player demographic to cross-sell to casino & sportsbook.”
The Rush Street Interactive earnings call brought another mention of it. CEO Richard Schwartz said,
“We recently complete the acquisition of Poker Night in America, a leading content provider of live and recorded poker tournaments and events. Poker Night has a strong following and a deep library of poker TV content and media creation capabilities that will help to further build out the BetRivers network and engage our target audience on an ongoing basis.”
Rush Street Interactive, better known as RSI, purchased PNIA with $2.2M in cash and $2.7M in company stock. The company noted that they didn’t expect any notable financial impact from the deal, but it should be a “growth enabler” over time.
https://twitter.com/RSInteractive_/status/1555301504441061377?s=20&t=m_Qw9sEmHN3ZZ89eDrSyAg
PNIA on Top of RIO
Some might note that this is the second major poker purchase for RSI this year.
Back in March, Rush Street Interactive acquired the Run It Once Poker online platform and the team, including founder Phil Galfond himself.
https://twitter.com/PhilGalfond/status/1499177424004648962?s=20&t=J9zBq1q2-VlqoGNFUx9DnA
Since then, Galfond’s Run It Once has yet to make its debut in the United States market. However, said US poker market is a slow one that takes time and planning.
The plan was – and presumably still is – to integrate Run It Once to the RSI platforms from which BetRivers and PlaySugarhouse operate their online casino and sportsbook verticals. With interactive gaming licenses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, RSI is likely to introduce an online poker product in those states.
CEO Schwartz said as much during the recent earnings call:
“Recall that two quarters ago, we also purchased an online poker platform. Together, these two tuck-ins will position us well for when we eventually launch online poker and the associated strong cross-sell opportunities that poker will bring to our casino and sportsbook verticals.”
How Does It Fit Together?
That remains to be seen. Poker Night in America has yet to issue a public statement regarding the sale. Run It Once and Galfond have remained quiet as well.
It might be a safe assumption that Rush Street Interactive will launch its online poker product when it can connect its New Jersey and Michigan sites, which should happen in the next few months per the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA). Pennsylvania has yet to sign on but is expected to do so at some point as well. Launching a poker product and connecting individual state sites at the same time is probably an ideal scenario.
For now, it appears that the words of RSI’s CEO will stand as a placeholder for what might develop over time, all with the goal of engaging the online gaming audience and building the Rush Street brand.
