BetRivers Name, Not SugarHouse, Greets Flyers Fans at Opener

Kelsey McCarson

October 8th, 2019

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When the puck drops in the Philadelphia Flyers' home opener against the New Jersey Devils Wednesday night, fans will get their first look at the massive branding overhaul from SugarHouse Casino to Rivers Casino Philadelphia.

Two new sports lounges at the Wells Fargo Center — BetRivers.com Sports Lounge and Rivers Casino Philadelphia Sports Lounge — will debut for NHL betting under those names. That will mark the local casino giant’s first big strides away from the SugarHouse name it used since opening in 2010 to the updated Rivers branding it will use going forward.

"We are thrilled to launch our partnership with SugarHouse, soon to be Rivers Casino and BetRivers.com, through these sports lounges which will undoubtedly elevate the gameday experience at the Wells Fargo Center," Valerie Camillo, president of business operations for the Flyers and Wells Fargo Center said in a news release. "Both spaces are stunning additions to what has already been the most transformative phase of our renovation project and we know our fans will be delighted with the design and experience."

Sports Lounges Part of Rebranding

Over the coming months, SugarHouse Casino, the city’s oldest casino, will become Rivers Casino Philadelphia. The online sportsbook’s name will also change from PlaySugarhouse.com to BetRivers.com. The branding change is intended to boost regional and national marketing efforts to promote the Rivers Casino brand across multiple markets and channels. By opening the sports lounges at the Wells Fargo Center under the Rivers name, the company has started those efforts.

Last month, the Flyers announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with the casino giant that included creating two hi-tech sports lounges for fans to watch the Flyers games and other live events across on nearly 100 screens. As part of the agreement, SugarHouse Casino, which will be renamed Rivers Casino Philadelphia, also became the team’s official sportsbook partner.

The lounges were designed to be an immersive sportsbook-like environment that will allow bettors a relaxing space to view and bet on the sports via their mobile devices. Moreover, lounge staff will be on hand to teach new bettors how to download, register and place bets via the company's mobile sportsbook app.

It’s just one small part of the greater overall marketing partnership between the two companies that will also include advertising inside the arena's bowl throughout the concourse as well as on radio programs, billboards and various other digital media platforms.

Partnership's Synergy Between Sports, Gambling

In short, the Flyers are embracing sports betting to its fullest, and SugarHouse Casino, which will become Rivers Casino, is taking the opportunity to show Flyers fans how sports and gambling go together.

While the two would seem to go hand-in-hand, the decades-long federal ban on sports betting in the U.S. was overturned in May 2018, so there are more potential sports bettors among the general sporting public who have yet to wager.

The sports lounges at Wells Fargo Center will serve as a place to let those people see what being inside a sportsbook feels like and will theoretically also help them get comfortable with sportsbooks in general. BetRivers.com and Rivers Casino are perhaps better known on the western half of the state as the original Rivers Casino is in Pittsburgh.

"The Wells Fargo Center will be Rivers Casino Philadelphia's home away from home," Rob Long, general manager of the casino property, said in a news release. "When fans walk into the Wells Fargo Center and the sports lounges, they'll feel the same excitement and comfort that will be available at the casino when our new state-of-the-art in-casino sportsbook is unveiled later this month."

Rush Street Interactive COO Mattias Stetz added: "We can't wait for Philadelphia sports fans to experience these new sports lounges. We know how passionate this city is when it comes to sports and we took great care to make sure these lounges have everything guests need to watch and get in on the action as it's happening."