Connecticut Online Sports Betting Is Officially a Go!
It’s a great day to be a sports bettor in Connecticut! On Tuesday, the state of Connecticut finally and officially launched their online betting industry for sports betting and casinos.
21 and Older
The Connecticut sports betting industry was launched in late September. Both of the state’s tribal casinos, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino, and their respective partners FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook, and the Connecticut Lottery will be providing online sports betting for all resident and visiting bettors over the age of 21.
Matt Kalish, the president of DraftKings Sportsbook, has a lot of high hopes for the future of this industry in Connecticut. “I believe it will be really strong, it’s hard to speculate on exactly what we’ll see,” Kalish said, “Whenever there’s a ‘halo’ of states, in this case Connecticut, that don’t offer legal regulated sports betting, we see a lot of customers traveling in to make bets who live around the border, and certainly also tourists who are visiting the state, we see a lot of that one-time play behavior when people are just in town visiting relatives or whatever the intentions are there.”
Timing of Online Launch
Rodney Butler, the chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, talked about the importance of the timeliness of the launch of the online sports betting industry. “Our original goal was to launch at the beginning of the football season,” He said, “We knew that was a stretch goal but we felt like we needed everyone to stay focused and pushing towards that in order to get this off the ground sooner rather than later.”
According to PlayCT, Connecticut could evolve into a market that generates more than $1.5 billion in annual sports wagers and more than $100 million in operator revenue. This is a huge deal for the state and for sports fans in Connecticut and also in bordering states.
Interestingly, online gaming is seen as different as sports betting, and both have to be approved by a sports legislature. The approval and legislative process for online gaming takes much longer than the process for sports betting.
DraftKings and FanDuel
DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, and Rush Street Interactive’s PlaySugarHouse will be the only online/mobile/digital sportsbooks permitted under state law. Since they are both partnered officially with Mohegan Sun and Foxswoods Resort Casino, DraftKings and FanDuel are allowed to offer over 130 different online casino offerings.
“This is an exciting moment for our state and our tribal partners,” Connecticut state governor Ned Lamont said. “Connecticut has proven to be a leader when it comes to the gaming economy going back decades, and that legacy will continue with the launch of these new online options for all eligible residents.”
Connecticut online sports betting is now live for those 21 years of age and over. This is very exciting news for sports fans living in Connecticut and in bordering states that do not yet offer legal sports betting options. The online and mobile betting industry is growing rapidly, and it also brings in an insane amount of revenue for the state. Everybody wins!
