The Governor of Connecticut announced that the U.S Department of the Interior has approved changes made to the gaming compact. There is also good news on the iGaming front for the tribes although the state will not be participating. The amended gaming compact is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register today.
Amendment to Gaming Compact Approved
After the announcement was made by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont that the amendments made in the gaming compacts between the state and the tribes had been approved, it is believed that legal sports betting could launch in the state as early as October. The tribes in question, Mashantucket Pequot and the Mohegan had help from the Bureau of Indian affairs which was instrumental in assisting them with the revisions.
This comes after the original betting legislation that was signed back in May by Gov. Lamont. These amendments made in the current bill will allow the tribes, which own the Mohegan Sun and Foxwood casinos respectively, to move forward with plans to move forward with deals that they have in place with two of the biggest entities in the legal sports betting market; DraftKings and FanDuel.
In terms of the state, the Connecticut Lottery will offer legal sports wagering although they will not be able to offer iGaming. However, the tribes did agree to allow the lottery to have up to 15 retail locations. In terms of partnerships, the Connecticut Lottery is in business with Rush Street Interactive, another big player in the industry.
Still A Few More Hurdles to Clear Before Launch
As with any state getting set to launch a legal sports betting market, there are a lot of hurdles but Connecticut is closer to the finish line than ever. One of the first steps that need to happen is for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection needs to issue both vendor and supplier licenses so that operators can send a request to go live. While this might seem like a formality, one look at some of the ways other states have gone wrong will show you that none of these steps are to be taken for granted.
Under the new Connecticut law, the Department of Consumer Protection must receive notification from a potential operator of their intentions to go live no less than 10 days in advance. While they wait on that, the state and the tribes have agreed to one thing; they will both go live on the same day.
Players across the country that don’t yet have access to legalized sports betting, can go to OddsTrader once this changes. OddsTrader currently offers betting odds comparison in Illinois, Colorado, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Virginia, Iowa, and West Virginia. With this new deal, Steelers fans can expect to have some amazing specials from both a sportsbook and casino perspective.
This is important because any type of contentiousness, which is very commonplace in these situations, is bad for sports betting fans. Red tape is the enemy of all sports betting fans and it would appear that the state and the tribes have cleared most of those hurdles. As long as everyone is on the same page, which they appear to be so far, legal sports betting should be live in Connecticut as of October.
