Casino officials reported on Friday that former Pittsburgh Steelers Running Back and Hall-of-Famer Jerome Bettis was named brand ambassador and sportsperson for BetRivers, the popular brand owned by gambling and entertainment company Rush Street Interactive.

Richard Schwartz, President of Rush Street Interactive said: “No matter where he was, growing up in Detroit, Playing at Notre Dame or during his iconic career in Pittsburgh, Jerome Bettis made a positive impact on and off the field. We are thrilled for Jerome to bring his authenticity and winning ways to the passionate bettors on BetRivers.com.”

The partnership makes Bettis the exclusive betting ambassador for the BetRivers Brand. He will be engaging in upcoming promotions and events for BetRivers on various platforms. This means he will lead social media campaigns as well as more digital and media platforms.

Beyond the people of Pittsburgh and Steelers fans all over Pennsylvania and the rest of the world, Jerome Bettis is the beloved son of many sports fans in other states where online sports betting is legal. This includes Indiana given he played three seasons in University of Notre Dame and Michigan as he is a native of the city Detroit. Rush Street Interactive will definitely use his popularity in these states to promote their legal online sports betting brands, and Bettis is expected to go to these states and interact with fans to bring even more popularity and credibility to the already-trusted and established BetRivers brand.

Rush Street Gaming owns and operates land-based Rivers casinos and sportsbooks in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Des Plains Illinois and Schenectady, New York. The BetRivers online casino and sports betting site and mobile app are owned by subsidiary Rush Street Interactive.

BetRivers is available to play at several states where online gambling is legal including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. It also plans to launch at Michigan and more states in the near future.

The Rivers Sportsbook in Philadelphia was first opened in December 2018 as a temporary facility, soon after sports betting was signed into law in Pennsylvania. After a $5 million renovation to the property in 2019, the BetRivers sports betting facilities include state-of-the-art 360 degree screes, 50×7 foot led monitors and nearly 100 86-inch flat screens across the venue.

The facility has handled more than $456 million in sports wagers since it opened. According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, almost $311 million of that hold was through bets that were placed on BetRivers online.  

This isn’t the first sports betting deal for Jerome Bettis. The former Steeler also launched a partnership with FanDuel in August 2019. In an interview with the press he said back then: “There was a big push when fantasy football came in. I think sports betting is the next evolutionary phase of that. It’s going to offer a lot more for ultimately the players, because of the revenue it will generate for the teams, which will then work itself down to the players.”

Born in Detroit in 1972, Bettis started his college football path at University of Notre Dame. However he did not graduate and skipped his senior year to enter the 1993 NFL Draft where he was picked on the first round (10^th overall) by the Los Angeles Rams.

After two seasons with the Rams followed by one season with the Seattle Seahawks, Bettis was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1996. With the Steelers he won numerous titles like NFL Defensive Players of the Year, NFL Comeback Player of the Year, Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year and more. After playing for 13 seasons, Bettis retired in 2006 after winning with the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl XL.

Known for his strength and ability to keep moving the football when players of the opposing defense teams try to stop him, Bettis earned the nickname ‘The Bus’. He announced his retirement on the podium after winning the Super Bowl and holding the Vince Lombardy Trophy. In a commercial back then that wasn’t necessarily targeting the same audience of BetRivers, Teammate and Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward said during the Super Bowl Halftime commercial: “I’m going to Disneyworld, and I’m taking the Bus!”