Rivers Casino ‘ready’ for heavier foot traffic with return of full football crowds
It has been a long time since Heinz Field was opened to full capacity for a regular-season football game — Dec. 15, 2019, to be exact, a night Devlin “Duck” Hodges started for the Steelers at quarterback during a 17-10 prime-time loss to Buffalo.
Barring further COVID-19 restrictions, that drought will come to an end Saturday when Pitt faces Massachusetts for a 4 p.m. kickoff at Heinz Field. And Rivers Casino hopes that the return of big crowds to the North Shore will mean a flood of returning handle for the casino’s retail sportsbook that missed out on a lot of it in 2020.
“If the preseason games are any indication of what we’re going to see in terms of traffic flow and betting, I’m very excited for the season,” said Andre Barnebei, Rivers’ vice president of gaming who oversees the sportsbook. “We saw a really nice boost in foot traffic. … You could definitely tell there was something going on at Heinz Field.”
The sports gaming industry took its biggest hit of the pandemic at the beginning, when the sports world shut down from mid-March until July 2020. Online handle recovered quickly after that, with football season
bringing new records for money wagered through the state’s legal operations.
Rivers Casino, however, faced various levels of restrictions amid surges in cases during the colder months. And nearby Heinz Field never welcomed a crowd larger than a few thousand season ticket holders for similar reasons. That naturally meant fewer in
-person bets.
That’s all changed now, at least for the start of the 2021 football season. Like the rest of the gambling hall, the sportsbook area has returned to full capacity and is ready to accept as many wagers as fans can throw at them via self-serve kiosks and counter service.
So could that mean a push toward new records as interest in the industry continues to grow?
Mr. Barnebei isn’t sure. He noted the market has changed quite a bit since that frosty December night nearly two years ago. More online sportsbooks have opened for business, and more retail establishments have opened, as well.
“We certainly hope so,” he said. “But I’m realistic. I know there’s a lot of other
opportunity out there. ... I think as a whole, the state of Pennsylvania should do very well this year.”
But regardless of how big the in-person boost proves to be, the excitement is palpable.
Mr. Barnebei said a promotion to host fantasy football drafts at the casino has taken off in recent weeks. Only a few slots remain for the program that includes $250 in food and beverage credit and fancy draft boards for participating groups. And he expects a surge in ingame betting this year as bettors show more interest in those markets.
Combined with continued safety precautions at the casino, which include regular cleanings, hand sanitizing stations and sanitary wipes available upon request, the hope is that the pieces are in place, even as effects of the delta variant linger.
“We’re ready for your action,” Mr. Barnebei said. “And we’re certainly ready to make sure you have a good time if you’re fortunate enough to be able to come down here.”