The CT sports betting market launched Thursday, with Gov. Ned Lamont making the ceremonial first bet.
Lamont placed the first bets at both Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun Thursday morning to kick off Connecticut sports betting.
DraftKings operates the Foxwoods sportsbook, while FanDuel runs the Mohegan sportsbook.
Which sportsbooks are live in Connecticut?
As of today, just DraftKings and FanDuel launched retail operations through their tribal partners. That means the only way to place a legal sports bet in Connecticut is to go to Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods, at least for now.
The Connecticut Lottery partnered with Rush Street Interactive and will use the PlaySugarHouse brand. A statewide mobile launch for the three online sportsbooks is scheduled for Oct. 7.
The Connecticut Lottery plans to soft launch its sportsbooks in early October. The lottery will also operate 15 retail sportsbooks throughout the state, with 10 at existing Sportech locations.
CT sports betting starts in-person only
Approximately two weeks after Lamont’s chief of staff told media outlets mobile sports betting would launch Oct. 7, both DraftKings and FanDuel announced they would take their first retail bets in Connecticut on Sept. 30.
The launch comes after the Federal Register published the amended compacts between the state and the Mohegan Indians (Sept. 15), and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (Sept. 27).
Both sportsbooks are operating out of temporary locations within the casinos.
How did CT sportsbooks get going?
Lamont reached agreements for the amended tribal compacts in March.
In May, he signed HB 6451, legalizing iGaming, including CT sports betting. Emergency regulations were approved in August.
“We got this passed after some negotiating in May and here we are just four months later, casting the first bet,” Lamont said Thursday. “I think that’s faster than you’ve seen in any other state in the country.”
Arizona launched on a similar timeline this year, also in a market with tribal casinos.
Not just CT sports betting getting started
Five states launched sports betting in September 2021. There are now 27 states live in the US sports betting market.
Other states launched this month:
Louisiana sports betting and Maryland sports betting could also launch this fall.
Residents in neighboring state New York and Massachusetts are likely eager for mobile CT sports betting. The Massachusetts Senate is sitting on a House sports betting bill, while NY regulators will pick winning bids for the state’s online sportsbooks in December.
