Does the name Marc Rayfield ring a bell?

Probably, if you’ve read this site over the years. Rayfield was a top executive at CBS Radio prior to the Entercom sale, and as such, his name would appear every so often at the height of the RADIO WARS era, about five years ago.

These days, he’s working as a “revenue expert” (i.e. consultant) and he’s one of six businessmen looking to build a restaurant and sports betting parlor two blocks from City Hall.

Jeff Blumenthal at the Philadelphia Business Journal has some details: 

Bullpen Capital founder and CEO Paul Martino, FanDuel’s first U.S. investor, is leading the group seeking to raise $8 million to build Bankroll, a technology-themed food and sports betting business.

Neither building owner and City Councilman Allan Domb nor the Bankroll partners would confirm but a source familiar with the situation said the group is working on a lease at The Drexel Building. Located at 15th and Walnut streets, it was most recently an LA Fitness and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The retail space in the building is being marketed on LoopNet at $41.61 per square foot.

At 24,000 square feet, Bankroll would be Philadelphia’s largest restaurant. But think of it a restaurant, casino and entertainment venue. Rayfield described the project as “more of a tech play,” using tablets at the venue or personal mobile phones to allow customers to access an app that allows them to order food, control television channels and audio, collect rewards, review the latest odds and place bets through partnerships with sports books. Rayfield said the technology could also ultimately apply machine learning to better understand which customers are best for which types of offers from which specific sports book.

“We want to make Philadelphia the sports betting capital of the U.S.,” Rayfield said.

Blumenthal writes that “there will also be a VIP area and live broadcast studio, for which Rayfield said negotiations are ongoing with Barstool Sports and other media outlets.”

Intriguing stuff. Does something like this interest you? Or would you rather sit at home and bet on the Phillies to lose from the comfort of your couch? Keep in mind, this thing probably isn’t going to be done until well after COVID is under control, God willing.

And just to clear up any confusion, it’s not a singular betting entity, like a licensed sportsbook. They’re going to have people download their app, and then you can access existing sportsbooks from there. As such, they wouldn’t need regulatory approval to get this thing off the ground.