- Greenwood Gaming owned Parx Casino has entered in to a promotional partnership deal with the National Football League (NFL) Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Parx becomes an ‘online casino partner’ of the Steelers and includes the typical promotional opportunities and brand use rights.
- The Steelers have previously announced sports betting partnerships with Unibet, BetMGM and FanDuel.
With the start of the National Football League (NFL) season right around the corner you can expect the gaming industry promotional deals between gaming companies and teams to continue apace until opening game kickoff. The latest relationship of this sort dropped today as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Parx Casino announced a promotional partnership. It is a multi-year deal that will begin this season. The Steelers begin the 2021 NFL campaign on Sunday, September 12 as they hit the road to take on the Buffalo Bills.
Here’s the official story from the press release:
In a marriage of two world-class organizations, Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, owner of Parx Interactive®, one of the leading mobile casino and entertainment companies in Pennsylvania, is proud to announce a multi-year partnership agreement with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pennsylvania’s most successful professional sports team. Parx, Pennsylvania’s top-class mobile online gambling products, is now a proud online casino partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The partnership will feature integrated marketing targeted to Steelers fans, who are known to be one of the most loyal and passionate fan bases in all of sports. The multi-faceted partnership includes a season-long promotion, called “The Ultimate Steelers Fan,” where a fan can win the grand prize of an all-expenses paid trip for two, for each away game of the 2022 season. This promotion will be supported through various digital, social, and other media channels.
Here’s where it gets (semi) interesting–the press release describes Parx as an ‘online casino partner’ of the Steelers. What’s curious is that Parx also offers retail and mobile sports betting in Pennsylvania. The ‘brick and mortar’ Parx Casino isn’t exactly convenient to Pittsburgh. It’s located in Bensalem, PA just a 20 minute trip from Philadelphia–horse racing geeks will recall it’s previous life as the Philadelphia Park racetrack and Keystone Racetrack before that. It was rebranded to Parx Racing in 2010 and the Parx casino is adjacent to the racing facility. Google Maps reports that a trip from Pittsburgh to Parx Casino is a five hour trip each way. With mobile betting, however, this distance isn’t an issue.
It also raises the question of brand usage rights–will the sportsbooks have the ability to use the Steelers’ branding? The team already has sportsbook partnerships with Unibet, BetMGM and FanDuel so there’s no issue with exclusivity. Parx could have figured that the casino partnership would be more lucrative, face less competition within the Steelers’ partnership portfolio and still serve the purpose of attracting sportsbook business. The press release does address the use of Steelers’ logos though doesn’t answer the question posed above:
As a proud partner, Parx Interactive® will have full use of team logos in communications across marketing, products, social media, and digital properties to be seen by fans and residents in the state of Pennsylvania.
The verbiage of the press release covers only casino products:
The deal brings together the NFL’s fifth-oldest franchise and online casino gaming, a popular new trend in Pennsylvania wagering. Pittsburgh Steelers fans will be the big winners, not just on game day but every day. They will have the thrills of mobile first casino products at their fingertips and can play anywhere in Pennsylvania on a phone, tablet, or personal computer.
The quotes in the press release don’t provide much context either. Here’s Matthew Cullen, Senior Vice President of Parx iGaming and Sports at Parx Interactive:
“Steelers fans are passionate and their love of the game is legendary. We look forward to tapping into that passion and providing Steelers Nation with an outstanding entertainment experience in all forms of iGaming.”
Steelers Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Ryan Huzjak gave the blurb for the team:
“We’re excited to bring Parx Interactive® into the fold as a proud online casino partner. We think Steelers fans will enjoy the Parx Interactive® platform and the opportunity to compete for unique Steelers prizes and experiences.”
Parx’ mobile sports betting platform is available in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There’s been talk that they’ll be entering additional states but as of yet there are no specifics.
