Retail sports betting in Connecticut officially began Thursday with launch events at the state’s two tribal casinos.
Governor Ned Lamont attended ceremonies at both Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods. He said sports gambling is important for the state’s finances.
“What we’ve got in the budget for the next couple of years is you know $10 million plus, between the two casinos, i-gaming, sports and then you’ve got the lottery on top of that. I think we’d like to think within four to five years maybe it means about $100 million in revenues to the state all in annually,” Lamont said.
Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Nation, which owns of Foxwoods, said it is essential the casinos keep up with changing times.
“We have to migrate to sports betting, and we have to get online. Every other industry is going there. Also, we made progress with the last administration and significant progress in retail gaming in the last administration. But under the governor and his vision and understanding of business and the importance of technology and more so now than ever during this pandemic how every industry was moving online,” Butler said.
Foxwoods has teamed up with Draftkings, and Mohegan Sun has partnered with Fanduel.
Sports fans and players can now place wagers across professional and collegiate sports events via kiosks and in-person at the casino’s sportsbook venues.
For now, online sports betting is not available in Connecticut.
