Connecticut Governor Passes Sports Betting Legislation

Connecticut should have regulated sportsbooks launched by the 2021 NFL season.
The Connecticut Lottery, as well as Tribes in the state, will have mobile sportsbooks and retail sports betting locations across the state.
The U.S. Department of the Interior will have House Bill 6451 for 45 days before granting approval and having the measure become state law on July 1.

HARTFORD, Conn. – On Thursday, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation to regulate a sports betting industry in the state. The legislative part of this gaming expansion for Connecticut is now complete with the Governor’s signature but House Bill 6451 still has a few more channels of approval to get through before it can be enacted as law in the Nutmeg State.

What House Bill 6451 Allows

House Bill 6451 opens up land-based and mobile sports betting platforms in Connecticut. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and the Mohegan Indians will open up sportsbooks at their gaming establishments in the state. The Connecticut Lottery will have 15 retail locations opened for sports betting statewide, with two of the fifteen being in Bridgeport and Hartford, as is stipulated within the measure.

Each of these three entities will be given a mobile sportsbook license. The Connecticut Lottery has chosen four operators after seeing presentations from multiple companies to put in their final plans for a sportsbook platform with the lottery. These four operations have until June 11 to submit their ideas and frameworks for a sports wagering application in Connecticut. The lottery will announce their choice on June 28. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe has already picked DraftKings while the Mohegan Indians have chosen Kambi. All three mobile applications will be accessible statewide.

A tax for the total GGR for both brick-and-mortar facilities and online applications is set at 13.75%. Licenses will be good for ten years before renewals are required. An iLottery and iGaming for casino games are also regulated under this bill. Taxes for these games are set at 18% which will then cap off at 20% after five years.

CT HB 6451, to regulate sports betting in Connecticut, will go into effect on July 1. After this date, all Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) will end in the Nutmeg State as they are currently not running under the new law. Should operators wish to continue DFS in Connecticut, they will need to partner with one of the Tribes for licensure to do so.

The Next Steps For Connecticut Sports Betting

Connecticut sports betting will now move to the U.S. Department of the Interior for 45 days as is the standard procedure for Tribal gaming expansions. Once the legislation is approved by the Secretary, it will be published in the Federal Register and officially become law in the state. Connecticut sportsbooks are expected to launch by the start of the 2021 NFL season.

Advertising Disclosure

In order to provide you with the best independent sports betting news and content LegalSportsBetting.com may receive a commission from partners when you make a purchase through a link on our site.

Christina Monroe

Christina has been writing for as long as she can remember and does dedicated research on the newly regulated sports betting market. She comes from a family of sports lovers that engage in friendly bets from time to time. During the winter months, you can find Christina baking cookies and beating the entire staff at Mario Kart…the N64 version of course.