The Pittsburgh Penguins are the latest NHL team to jump on the gambling bandwagon, adding a branded, high-tech sportsbook-style PPG Paints Arena betting lounge as part of a sponsorship deal.
The deal deems Rivers Casino and its online betting service, BetRivers.com, the Official Casino and Official Sportsbook of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The branded lounge will feature two rows of luxury seating where sports fans will now be able to watch the Penguins games live. The new space will be created by removing several rows at the top of section 120 in the lower bowl. Along with the luxury rows of seating, the fun space will feature a bar with seating and club chairs, as well as multiple live-action screens.
As is the case with most, but not all betting operations in arenas and sporting facilities, there will be no actual betting windows in PPG Paints Arena; instead, fans will be directed to the BetRivers Pennsylvania app on their personal mobile devices.
“This is an exciting extension of our longstanding relationship with Rivers,” said David Morehouse, president and CEO of the Penguins, in a press statement. “The BetRivers Lounge is one of a number of projects we are undertaking at PPG Paints Arena to provide an enhanced and safe fan experience in a post-COVID environment.”
“Rivers Casino Pittsburgh’s proud partnership with the Penguins dates back to our grand opening. Besides ongoing promotions, we partnered with the Lemieux Foundation when table games debuted in 2010, and last year, when we launched the expanded BetRivers Sportsbook, Iceburgh was right by my side,” said Bill Keena, general manager of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, via press statement. “The new BetRivers Lounge at PPG Paints Arena takes this longstanding relationship to a whole new level-literally.”
PPG Paints Arena is the latest NHL/NBA venue to incorporate betting into the arena design. The Colorado Rockies/Denver Nuggets have partnered with PointsBet on a promo deal, but the bets must be placed physically outside the area or via app; Monumental Sports and Entertainment is rapidly turning to betting as a major offering for Wizards, Capitals and Mystics games with a temporary sportsbook already set up in the Capital One Arena lobby, partnering with William Hill US. (A permanent sports book is being constructed within Capital One Arena, but it will be separated from the arena itself.) Other sports venues, such as Wrigley Field, will see a sports book in 2021.
Renderings courtesy DMAC Architecture.
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