Connecticut Sports Betting to Launch This Week at Retail Location
Connecticut
Bettors in Connecticut can rejoice. Legal sports betting will launch in the state starting this week.
On Wednesday, the state’s Department of Consumer Protection approved the licenses that both Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino needed to offer sports betting on their tribal reservations.
Not to be outdone, the Connecticut Lottery Corporation also announced that the first phase of its online and retail sports betting should be launched sometime in the first week of October.
When Sports Betting Will Be Offered
On Thursday, September 30, legal sports betting will officially be open at Foxwoods Casino. That announced was made by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Its partner in the operation, DraftKings Inc., was also present at the announcement.
At first, players will be able to place bets at what is for now a temporary DraftKings Sportsbook set up inside the Foxwoods casino. Players can also place legal sports wagers at betting kiosks that will be set up at various locations inside the casino.
The Mohegan Sun also received approval to offer legal sports betting on their tribal lands. However, they didn’t officially announce their plans for how it would be offered as of yet.
Foxwoods went one step further in their announcement. They said they plan to launch online sports betting, as well as iGaming options, across the state sometime in early October. Before they can do that, though, they’ll need to receive all regulatory approvals that are currently pending.
How the Approvals Came About
Before Connecticut could even approve the sports betting licenses, the U.S. Department of Interior had to approve what was an amended agreement between the two tribes and the state of Connecticut.
That amended agreement allowed for sports wagering to be legal. It also expanded into new forms of legal betting, including online gambling.
Once that was all published in the Federal Register, which happened earlier this week, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection could then approve all the licenses it needed to for the tribes to offer sports betting on the reservations for now, and in online forms throughout the state in the near future.
The tribes now are in complete control as to how and when they will start offering sports betting, as long as it fits within the licenses and rules and regulations set forth by the state.
The state, meanwhile, is still waiting for some documents to be finalized for the state lottery to get licenses in order. Once that’s done, then a soft launch date can be announced.
The state lottery is partnering with Rush Street Interactive for its version of online sports betting. There are 15 retail locations for sports betting that can be offered through the lottery. Ten of those sites will be run by Sportech, which is Connecticut’s operator of off-track betting.
The entities were all hoping to have everything set up and in place for the start of the NFL season, but that didn’t happen. Still, with the launch of legal sports betting in Connecticut this week, they will only have missed out on the first month of the season.
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