Connecticut Retail Sports Betting Now Greenlit, Online Wagering to Follow

• Connecticut Tribes and Partners Announce Sep. 30 Start to Retail Sports Betting
• Online Wagering in Connecticut to Begin in Early October
• 2021 NFL Wagers up 36 Percent from Last Year

Connecticut Tribes and Partners Announce Sep. 30 Start to Retail Sports Betting

On Wednesday, Connecticut’s Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and its sportsbook partner DraftKings made it official – retail sports betting will begin on Thursday, September 30, the long-awaited start of an operation begun by Connecticut’s lawmakers back in May.

Nutmeg State gamblers will now be able to place bets at a temporary sportsbook and kiosks located at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT, with a more permanent sportsbook “currently in the final stages of construction,” according to the release.

Rodney Butler, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Chairman, was understandably excited about Wednesday’s announcement, saying:

Today we celebrate a new era for our Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, sports fans, Foxwoods guests, and Connecticut residents.

Matt Kalish, the co-founder, and president of the tribe’s sportsbook partner, DraftKings North America, described the gambling product being offered by his company as “a holistic and delightful sports betting experience for customers in Connecticut.

Connecticut’s Mohegan Tribe and their sportsbook partner FanDuel will also begin taking retail sports wagers on Thursday, whereas the Connecticut Lottery and its 15 retail sportsbooks won’t start taking retail bets until the first week of October.

In-person betting will begin competing with online wagering in Connecticut soon after, just as we reported earlier.

Online Wagering in Connecticut to Begin in Early October FanDuel Sportsbook

Connecticut has also approved three online sportsbook brands – DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, and PlaySugarHouse – and those can legally launch starting in a week on October 7, just in time for Week 5 of the NFL season.

It made total sense to DraftKings co-founder and President Kalish to partner up with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe given their years of success in the casino gambling business.

By leveraging the Tribe’s expertise in developing and operating one of the largest resort casinos in the world, we are excited to bring new offerings for consumers in The Constitution State.

It’s perfect timing for the state of Connecticut to jump into the lucrative world of NFL gambling.

2021 NFL Wagers up 36 Percent from Last Year

The timelines and deadlines for legal retail and online sports betting in Connecticut were all crafted to coincide with the start of the 2021 NFL regular season which got underway on September 7 and is now in Week 4 of its games.

That’s because pro football wagering is big money in the US and abroad, one of the main reasons more than half the states have already begun their own legal sports betting operations to much initial success.

According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), more than 42 million Americans are expected to place a wager on professional football this season, and that number is up 36 percent from last year.

And already industry analysts are tracking a huge increase in online betting, in general, this year as we covered in NFL Season Start Leads to 126% Increase in Online Betting Transactions.

It all adds up to a new source of tax revenue that will benefit Connecticut residents who are still reeling from the financial hits they took during the pandemic, a welcome economic boost whose true ceiling has yet to be established.