The Catalan parliament continues to discuss the Hard Rock casino plans over ten years after the project was announced. Parties are yet to reach a consensus on the matter, the Catalan News reported.

The Hard Rock casino project envisions the construction of a casino-hotel complex in Vila-seca and Salou, Tarragona, in the vicinity of the PortAventura amusement park. However, the property has been a point of contention for over a decade, causing delays in its development.

The initial mega project would have had six theme parks, covering 445 hectares in total. Originally called Barcelona World, the project was eventually picked by Hard Rock, which scaled it down. Its current iteration would feature a casino, two hotels, a large swimming pool, a shopping area and a big conference center.

However, Hard Rock’s project now still waiting for the approval of a new Urban Development Plan because the Catalan High Court annulled the first one in 2020.

Political Parties Are in Disagreement

Hard Rock’s project continues to be intensely discussed by political parties in the Catalan parliament. The casino plans have the support of the Socialists, the pro-independence Junts, the far-right Vox and the liberal Ciudadanos. In the meantime, the pro-independence Esquerra Republicana, far-left CUP, and left-wing Comuns Sumar are firmly opposed to the resort.

Comuns Sumar, for example, rejected the 2024 budget because its members believed that it would have advanced the Hard Rock project, despite the government claiming otherwise. As a result, Catalan president Pere Aragonès had to call for a snap election on May 12.

Raquel Sans, the main candidate for Esquerra Republicana, accused her political opponents of using Hard Rock as an excuse to push their agenda and end the legislature. According to her, these people chose their own benefits over those of the public.

Far-right Vox’s Sergio Macián added that separatism continues to prevent the economic development of Catalonia.

However, opponents of the project claim that it must be stopped because it is not entirely legal. According to them, proceeding with the project would be an injustice. Others have pointed out that the Hard Rock casino-hotel would not be environmentally sustainable.

Because of that, opposed parties believe that changes would be needed before Hard Rock receives planning permission.

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Rush Street Interactive, a market leader in online casino and sports betting, has defied Wall Street expectations by posting stronger financial results in the second quarter than expected.

The company achieved a revenue of $165.1 million, which was a 15% gain in Q2 2022, and managed to pare down its loss to $16.7 million, from $28.3 million a year earlier. The Rush Street Interactive results are consistent with the Q1 2023 performance which also showed resilience and growth on the part of the company.  

Rush Street Interactive Defies Wall Street Expectations

Wall Street took notice and said that the company promised a solid return on investment for those who had invested in the company. Overall, Rush Street Interactive emerged with $1.2 million in ROI in the second quarter of the year.

The company’s chief executive, Richard Schwartz, was similarly excited with these developments and he said that it was all owing to the company’s strong execution of internal planning and strategies. Schwartz said that the company was pleased with its performance, and also noted that it had beaten Wall Street forecasts.

Meanwhile, Rush Street Interactive has been able to further establish itself as one of the top five operators in the country. To help understand the numbers, the company gave the word to CFO Kyle Sauers who walked investors and the public through the finances. Sports betting markets still weren’t the most profitable, but the company emerged victorious in all but one – New York.

According to Sauers, the hold percentages were meaningful – the word he used to describe the metric, at least when it concerned sports betting. Sports betting saw an increase in baseball wagers, which has prompted the company to work harder on introducing parlay and props bets for events such as Major League Baseball. Schwartz added:

We put a lot of effort into surfacing the right type of bets for the right type of players. We’re going to be highlighting a beautiful new feature for NFL season.

RSI CEO Richard Schwartz

Meanwhile, iGaming hold percentages were in line with what the company had predicted, Sauers explained. Sauers also expects the company’s revenue at the end of the year to be anything between $650 million and $690 million, a significant achievement over the long term.

No Reason for Overexcitement as RSI Builds Methodically

However, Sauer is not too quick to draw rash conclusions either.  Although he sees a reason why the third quarter of the year may end up profitable for the company, he has cautioned that the fourth one will most likely be slowing down. Meanwhile, Rush Street Interactive is not slowing down when it comes to expansion.

The company is actively looking into the “legislative front” of at least several states, including Indiana, Illinois, and New York, where it wants to deploy iGaming solutions when and if possible. However, these states may not legalize their iGaming industries as quickly as hoped for, and RSI may need to turn its gaze elsewhere – to Maryland, which seems to be far more likely to be first.

All in all, Schwartz assured that the company will continue to execute its strategy and strive towards profitability.

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