Gamblers beware: If you're visiting the Rivers Casino during Steelers or University of Pittsburgh football games this fall, you could find yourself taking a loss even before you get out of the parking garage.

Customers who don't have coupons for free parking could be charged $25 to park at the casino during home games at nearby Heinz Field, including tonight's matchup against the Carolina Panthers. The fee kicks in six hours prior to the start of the game and remains in place until halftime.

It marks the second straight year the casino has charged for parking, which otherwise is free, during football games.

In 2009, the fee went over about as well as a last-minute Steelers loss, sparking confusion and causing some gamblers to think they had to pay to park all the time. The casino, which opened in August 2009, spent months trying to reverse that perception and even blamed news reports about the fee in part for its slow start.

Last season, Rivers officials initially charged $50 to park in their massive 3,800-space garage during the Steelers first exhibition game, although the fee was waived if customers wagered at least $80 at the casino that day. A week later, it announced it was dropping the fee to $20 on game days and allowing all customers to park free regardless of how much they wagered.

This year, in conjunction with the teams, the casino is reserving 1,000 spaces in the garage for Steelers season ticket holders and 750 spots for Pitt season ticket holders. Both groups purchased the spaces in advance for $20 a game.

A limited number of spaces also will be available on game day to other fans at $25 a pop.

Casino customers can avoid paying if they are Players Club members and have received coupons for free game day parking as part of their monthly mailings. Whether they get the coupons depends on how much they have gambled, spokesman Jack Horner said.

"Just being a cardholder doesn't mean you're going to get a parking coupon," he said. "It's based on your level of play. The higher your level of play, the more likely your mailer will contain a coupon."

The amount needed to qualify for the coupon could increase or decrease, depending on demand for parking, as the season unfolds, he added. He said he did not know what level of wagering initially was required for the free parking.

Mr. Horner said he didn't expect negative ramifications from the new policy.

He stressed that at all other times visitors to the casino will have free parking.

"We're talking about 16 days out of the entire calendar year when the parking policy is changed. The entire rest of the time [parking] is free. If you're a high-level player, you're getting the free coupon, so it's free to you, anyway," he said.

Mr. Horner said the casino was happy to make spaces available to the Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh.

"It's important again for us to be a good neighbor to our North Side entertainment venues. We want to have some [spaces] available in our garage because we want to support our home teams," he said.

Nonetheless, the majority of spaces will still be set aside for customers, he added.

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