The legislative process to legalize sports betting in Connecticut is finally done, but the story is not finished quite yet.
Gov. Ned Lamont signed HB 6451 into law Thursday afternoon. The bill allows Lamont to submit updated compacts with the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Indians to the Department of Interior for federal approval.
Along with CT sports betting, iGaming and online lottery are also legalized under the expanded gaming agreements. Lamont’s signature comes a week after the bill passed the House and two days after it passed the Senate.
“By signing this bill into law, Connecticut is now on the cusp of providing a modern, technologically advanced gaming experience that will be competitive with our neighboring states and positions us for success into the future,” Lamont said.
The bill also puts fantasy sports, including daily fantasy sports contests, in jeopardy for the rest of 2021. It will force fantasy operators to stop taking customers in the state until they can reapply for a license tied to one of the tribal partners.
Details for sports betting in Connecticut
The gaming agreement detailed some sports betting basics:
- Sports betting revenue will be taxed at 13.75%.
- There will be three online skins. DraftKings Sportsbook is partnered with the Mashantucket Pequot while Kambi is partnered with the Mohegan. The CT Lottery controls the third skin and is in the process of picking a partner.
- Along with its online skin, the Lottery can operate 15 retail sportsbooks. Two of those have to be located in Bridgeport and Hartford. The Lottery can outsource some of those operations to Sportech, the state’s OTB operator.
- Sports betting licenses run for 10 years.
The plan is to launch sports betting in time for the upcoming NFL season.
CT Lottery official timeline kicks in
Operators interested in running sports betting for the Connecticut Lottery have 15 days from Thursday to submit their final proposals, now that the bill is signed.
That puts final proposals due by June 11, according to an updated timeline from the Lottery. The winning bidder will be selected June 28.
The Lottery specifically asked four operators to bid for the license after seeing preliminary presentations.
