Rivers Casino Attracts Football Fans With New Promotion

NORTH SHORE (KDKA) -- The slots are as popular as ever at Rivers Casino, but there's something else that's attracting the crowd.

Former Steeler Rocky Bleier handed out footballs and led players to the Pigskin Payout Challenge. Players use their casino playing cards to register for free then pick the Sunday and Monday NFL games.

If they're right, they can share in a $350,000 prize pool.

Bleier picked mostly home teams except for the Steeler game.

"I think we have a great or a good solid team defensively," Bleier said. "The decisions that they had to make were tough ones but that just gives you an idea of the talent pool that the team has both offensively and defensively."

Promotions like these and the timing of them factor into what brings people to the casino and its ultimate success.

For example, the Rivers generated $21.4 million in revenue in August of 2010, but $22.8 million this past August – an increase of 6.5 percent.

"We were 6 percent up year over year versus the statewide average of about one per cent up," Joe Barrett, assistant general manager at Rivers Casino, said.

"Many of our competitors are showing a decline. It just speaks volumes about the promotions that we have here at the Rivers."

This new promotion runs from till New Year's Day.

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