Connecticut Lottery Considering Four Sportsbooks For Platform

• Connecticut sports betting is expected to go live by the 2021 NFL season.
• Legislation for the industry has not yet fully been hammered out but is expected to be done by June.
• The Connecticut Lottery is preparing for the impending regulatory market by beginning the process of choosing one of four sports betting operators as their official sportsbook.

HARTFORD, Conn. – Fifteen sports betting operators applied to be the official sportsbook for the Connecticut Lottery, and of those fifteen, there are now four left in contention. After going over each of the applications thoroughly, five of the businesses were extended an invitation to give formal presentations to the lottery’s board committee, a meeting on Thursday revealed.

However, of those five, four were asked to provide a Connecticut sports betting request for proposal (RFP) on what they could specifically bring to the lottery’s sports wagering platform and how. These companies and their layout proposals were set for submissions beginning on Monday.

Those that received the opportunity for an RFP were chosen explicitly by the lottery because they were the most qualified based on their applications to be able to provide exceptional service while adhering to the language of the regulated sports betting laws that will likely be seen by the state.

“The purpose of this RFP is to find a strategic partner to provide, implement, operate, maintain, and fully support a flexible, reliable, secure, state-of-the-art SB System, as well as to provide the CLC with other related products and services,” read a statement put out by the Connecticut Lottery on Monday.

All RFPs will need to be submitted by May 27. From there, the lottery will formally name who they’ve chosen to operate their sports betting platform on June 10. Within these RFPs will be a total breakdown of software used by each company, all financial costs for equipment at retail facilities, how much GGR they average within other markets, and a share breakdown of revenue between operator and state.

The lottery also requires at least $5 million in revenue to be produced by their chosen operator in its first year of operation and then $10 million for each year after that as the bare minimum. These four sportsbooks will need to explain how they will be able to achieve this and how they’ve done so within other state industries.

The Connecticut Lottery will be able to have one mobile sportsbook application as well as sell sports betting slips at a maximum of 15 retailers statewide per the current legislation.

Other Details For The Connecticut Sports Betting Industry

Along with sports betting, Connecticut will open up the iGaming market for mobile and internet casino gaming. The two tribes in the state, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribes, will have mobile and land-based sportsbooks.

The Mohegan Tribe, who will be using Kambi as their sportsbook of choice, believes they will be able to reach $200 million in annual revenue by their fifth year in business. In total, the tribe projects over $400 million in yearly revenue seen by just their platforms within five years for the state.

The sports betting market in Connecticut expects to be live by the start of the NFL season, the biggest time of year for gambling on sports in the nation.

News tags: Connecticut | Connecticut Lottery | Kambi | Mashantucket Pequot Tribe | Mohegan Tribe | NFL