$re = '/(?:[^\\\\]{{)\s*RIO_PLAYER_NAME\s*}}/m';
$str = 'Welcome{{ RIO_PLAYER_NAME}} to the event!
Welcome {{ RIO_PLAYER_NAME}} to the event!
Welcome \\\\{{RIO_PLAYER_NAME}} to the event!
Welcome\\\\{{RIO_PLAYER_NAME}} to the event!';
$subst = " Richard";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php