BetRivers Sets $1 Minimum Bet in Illinois After Tax Hike as RSI Stock Jumps

BetRivers is raising its minimum wager to $1 in Illinois, becoming the latest sports betting operator to respond to Illinois’ recent tax hike. The move was confirmed during the Q2 2025 earnings call of Rush Street Interactive (RSI), BetRivers’ parent company.

RSI executives were asked about the impact of the recent tax hikes in Illinois and New Jersey. Illinois implemented a tax of at least $0.25 on every mobile bet. Meanwhile, New Jersey raised the tax on gross gaming revenue to 19.75%.

Addressing the Illinois change, RSI Chief Financial Officer Kyle Sauers explained:

“On Illinois, just in terms of the strategy there so far, we haven’t shared plans yet on exactly what we plan to do… We’re trying to make sure we’re blending goals of a great player experience but also appropriate economics for us.

“What we have done to date is we’ve moved the minimum bet up to $1. That’s the move thus far, but we’re remaining flexible to figure out the right way to approach it as we get towards NFL season.”

Illinois lawmakers passed the new tax structure swiftly at the end of May, offering operators little time to prepare. The two-tier structure requires operators to pay $0.25 per bet on the first 20 million wagers and $0.50 per bet after that threshold. The change went into effect on July 1.

How Other Operators Are Responding in Illinois

Sports betting operators have widely criticized the new tax, especially given it was the second one in a year. In 2024, Illinois changed its previous flat rate of 15% on gross gaming revenue to a progressive rate based on the revenue.

Leading platforms like FanDuel and DraftKings saw their tax jump from 15% to 40%. With the additional per-bet requirement, operators began making changes to protect margins.

FanDuel was the first to respond, announcing that it would implement a $0.50 surcharge on all bets starting September 1.

The rest of the operators waited to see the response from investors and analysts. As that was mostly positive, DraftKings soon followed with an identical surcharge.

Shortly after, Fanatics became the third platform to respond with a $0.25 surcharge per bet. The lower fee is likely due to Fanatics not being expected to surpass the 20 million bet threshold.

A few weeks later, two more operators, BetMGM and Hard Rock Bet, responded. The two took a different approach by implementing a minimum bet, a strategy BetRivers has also implemented. BetMGM imposed a $2.50 minimum, while Hard Rock Bet imposed $2 minimum.

The remaining four mobile sports betting platforms in Illinois, bet365, Caesars, ESPN Bet, and Circa, have not indicated whether they will impose a surcharge or a minimum bet. Currently, the minimum bet at these platforms is $0.10.

RSI Soars After Strong Q2 Results

RSI posted strong second-quarter results on July 30, highlighted by a 22% yearly increase in revenue. Q2 was the ninth consecutive quarter to post growth. Some highlights include:

• Revenue: $269.2 million, up 22% year-over-year from $220.4 million in Q2 2024.
• Net Income: $28.8 million, a stark contrast to the $0.3 million loss in the same quarter last year.
• Adjusted EBITDA: $40.2 million, up 88% year-over-year.
• Adjusted Earnings per Share: $0.11, exceeding expectations by 83–100% (Zacks: +57%, Investing.com: +$0.05).
• User Growth: Monthly Active Users in North America and Canada were approximately 197,000 (up 21% YoY); Latin America experienced nearly 42% growth to approximately 403,000.
• Player Value: North America Average Revenue per Monthly Active User hit $391—a new quarterly record; Latin America ARPMAU was $30, down from $38 a year ago (reflecting bonusing strategies in Colombia).
• Buybacks: $2.5 million of Class A shares repurchased under a $50 million authorization (leaving approximately $42 million remaining).

Investors welcomed the positive results. RSI shares jumped over 9% in after-hours trading and gained further momentum the next morning, rising 17.1% in premarket trading.

The stock is now up by over 46% since the beginning of the year. In the past year, it has risen by over 87% and it’s near its 52-week high.