Governor Ned Lamont signed the bill legalizing sports betting in Connecticut into law late last week, but there is still one final hurdle that must be passed before bets can start to be made in the state.
Lamont signed bill HB 6451 which updates state compacts signed with the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes to legalize sports betting. However, since the bill alters a standing compact between the state and native tribes it also needs Federal approval from the Department of Interior.
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The new bill doesn’t focus solely on sports betting. It also legalizes online gambling in the state, including online poker, online casino games and online sports betting. The updates to the state compact will let the two tribes offer online gambling in the state and set up retail sportsbooks in their casinos.
Under the new deal the Connecticut state lottery can also offer online sports betting and retail sports betting at 15 locations. Two of those locations must be in Bridgeport and Hartford. All sports betting revenue will be taxed at 13.75 percent.
There will be only three online skins for sports betting in the state. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe has already announced a partnership with DraftKings, while the Mohegan Tribe has partnered with Kambi.
The Connecticut Lottery has not yet announced who they will be partnering with but have set a deadline of June 11 for operators to submit proposals. The winning proposal will be announced on June 28.
As long as there are no problems with the changes to the compact receiving Federal approval from the Depart of Interior the target date for the launch of sports betting in the state is prior to the kickoff of the 2021 NFL season.