Sports Betting In Connecticut
Connecticut officials revealed an online sports betting and casino gaming deal that will give at least one gaming tribe and the state lottery rights to statewide internet wagering. Ned Lamont and the Mohegan Tribe announced a revised compact on Tuesday that would allow statewide mobile wagering. Connecticut And Its Path To Sports Betting. Connecticut passed the requisite legislation to bring sports betting to the state in 2017. But the state’s two federally recognized Indian tribes. The sports wagering business isn’t just about bookmakers and bettors handicapping games these days. It’s about casino operators, strategic alliances, broadcast and podcast partners, sports teams, sports leagues, stadiums, technology and being the official “fill-in-the-blank” of a gaming company. Every state is different. There are different rules and regulations, a wide array of tax.
- Can You Bet On Sports In Connecticut
- Sports Betting In Connecticut
- Online Sports Betting In Connecticut
- Sports Betting In Connecticut
Happy Monday, everyone. Sports betting news was mostly dominated by legislative updates and state reports last week, which is typical for this time of year.
The LSR Podcast broke down some of those biggest state reports and looked at a recap of reported Super Bowl 55 handle so far.
The state legislative updates will be coming fast and furiously through early summer at this point. Make sure to follow @LSPReport on Twitter to get those updates as we cover them.
Top sports betting news: Michigan quick off online start line
Sports betting in Michigan launched last March just before the coronavirus pandemic, but that was only retail. Everyone knew the true test of the market would come once online went live.
Michigan certainly didn’t disappoint with $115.2 million bet online in the first 10 days. That led to $13.3 million in gross sports betting revenue, which drastically dropped to a loss of $5.2 million once promos were deducted. No doubt the market was spurred by the simultaneous launch of online casino gaming, which had $29.4 million in gross revenue during those 10 days.
Can You Bet On Sports In Connecticut
Even more telling than the total handle was who took those bets. While there were 11 sportsbooks live in those 10 days, four showed early potential to become a market leader.
FanDuel Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, Barstool Sportsbook and BetMGM combined for 96.4% of total handle and 93.2% of total gross revenue.
IL, NJ, PA release latest numbers too
We also saw sports betting revenue reports out of three of the top US sports betting jurisdictions last week:
- Illinois‘ gaming regulators finally graced all of us with their December report, which showed a new record of $492 million bet. Hold dropped to 5.7% from 8.2% in November, though, which meant IL sports betting revenue fell to $28.4 million.
- New Jersey sports betting set a new revenue record with $82.6 million in January while handle fell 4% from December to $958.7 million.
- Pennsylvania sportsbooks took a record $615.3 million in bets last month, which was up 12.2% from its previous record set in December.
Full Canada sports betting inches forward
One of last week’s top sports betting stories was news from our northern neighbor.
A bill that would remove a federal ban on single-game sports betting in Canada progressed through its second hearing vote last week by a significant 303-15 margin Wednesday.
The bill now moves to the Justice Committee where it gets a third hearing this week. A vote on that hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Virginia sports betting bills head to conference again
Virginia‘s two legislative chambers just cannot agree on VA sports betting details.
Just like last year, both chambers insisted on their version of bills that would tweak the state’s sports betting law. What’s potentially frustrating for those sponsors is the bills are simply cleaning up language from last year’s enabling legislation.
The proposal, which could see final approval this week if the conference works quickly, would exempt mobile sports betting licenses connected with casinos in the state from the maximum cap of 12 mobile-only licenses. Betting on the Olympics and more would also be approved through the legislation.
Good sportsbooks steal trademarks, great sportsbooks register them?
Barstool Sportsbook is accused of stealing content by a competitor.
Portnoy tweeted a letter sent from Westgate Superbook ordering the brand to stop using its trademarked “Good teams win, great teams cover” phrase.
Portnoy said there’s no chance Westgate invented the saying, which might be true. That has nothing to do with infringing on a trademark, of course, that Westgate successfully registered in 2012.
Vermont tries again for legal sports betting
The latest effort to legalize sports betting in Vermont is now live in the state legislature.
This year’s bill would authorize up to six mobile sportsbooks as well as retail betting through the state lottery.
The state needs to do something soon if it wants to stay ahead of local competition. Vermont has four borders – Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and the province of Quebec in Canada – that could all have legal single-game mobile betting by the end of this year.
BetMGM sports betting partnership with Topgolf
A new partnership between BetMGM and Topgolf Entertainment will see the two collaborate on marketing and promotional offers.
The agreement includes select Topgolf locations where sports betting is legal and within online golf game WGT.
Locations where the partnership will first launch include Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Nashville and Virginia Beach.
WynnBET partners with Genius Sports
The expanding WynnBET-branded interactive segment of Wynn Resorts will now get its data from Genius Sports.
The agreement includes data for NASCAR, the English Premier League and hundreds of other sports organizations.
The deal spans multiple states, beginning with WynnBET’s live operations in Colorado, Michigan and New Jersey with more states to follow.
Wynn is working toward more state launches before the NFL season kicks off later this year.
Gov. Ned Lamont took a risk when he announced a Connecticut sports betting agreement with just one tribal partner instead of both.
That’s left some key parties pretty upset.
Lamont’s office announced an agreement for expanded gaming with the Mohegan Tribe Tuesday. The announcement came after a joint Public Safety and Security Committee hearing where hopeful CT sports betting operators weighed in on the issue.
Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Indians, said he doubted a two-sided announcement would come with his tribe still in negotiations at the hearing. When the announcement finally did come, Butler and legislators that support the tribe both spoke out about the deal.
Legislators, Butler slam Connecticut sports betting announcement
Butler said a two-sided announcement “goes at the heart of this deal,” so he was a bit frustrated late Tuesday. Butler told local media it was “extremely disrespectful” the governor’s office moved forward with an announcement:
“After months of closed-door negotiations, it’s offensive that Governor Lamont would announce an agreement with only one of the two Tribal Nations that have been a party to the negotiations, despite full knowledge that both sovereign Nations are needed to implement any agreement.
“We have participated in these discussions in good faith and consider today’s events extremely disrespectful in terms of process and substance. Now that the Governor Lamont has laid bare the confidential terms of our negotiations, you can see the significant and substantial concessions made by both Tribes. Just permitting Lottery to participate in full sports betting, absent tax or revenue share, is a major allowance.
“We have one remaining point of contention that is easily resolved if some sense of mutual respect is afforded for the specific needs of our tribal community. We remain open to discussions and hope this is resolved quickly for the benefit of the entire state of Connecticut.”
A delegation of 17 legislators from Eastern Connecticut also spoke out in a letter to the governor’s office:
“We remain committed to the future and to the modernization of gaming in Connecticut. However, we cannot accept this agreement as it is incomplete. It is necessary that the agreement include both the Mohegan Tribe and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Unless an agreement includes both tribes, the eastern Connecticut delegation simply cannot support it.”
Sports Betting In Connecticut
Connecticut sports betting details
The announcement between the governor’s office and the Mohegan Indians finally gave insight into expanded gaming in the state:
Online Sports Betting In Connecticut
- Sports betting revenue would be taxed at 13.5% while iGaming gets a 20% tax rate.
- The Mohegan Indians get one skin. The tribe signed Kambi as a sports betting partner nearly two years ago.
- The Connecticut Lottery also gets an online sports betting skin. That’s in addition to 15 retail locations that can allow sports betting.
- New Lottery-run sports betting venues would be built in Bridgeport and Hartford.
- The Lottery can sub-license some of those retail operations to Sportech, but Sportech won’t get an online license.
Sportech threatens to sue
Sportech is the state’s exclusive parimutuel wagering operator and has lobbied for its inclusion for years. The company is included in the plans, but only if the Connecticut Lottery allows it.
Sports Betting In Connecticut
Sportech isn’t taking its place in the proposed expanded gaming agreement too well, according to a statement:
“One year ago, Governor Lamont stated he would seek a fair resolution regarding gaming expansion involving existing gaming operators that ‘must be designed to avoid and withstand endless legal challenges.’ Regretfully, the Governor’s announcement this afternoon, that principally excludes Sportech from expanded gaming, leaves us with little option but to pursue legal recourse on behalf of our 400 Connecticut employees.”
Sportech’s main argument is that sports betting is not a casino game. That means it shouldn’t be only awarded to the two tribes, which have exclusivity over casino gaming in the state.