Connecticut To Legalize Sports Betting In 2021? Lawmaker Thinks So

• Signs point to a legalized Connecticut sports betting market in 2021 lawmakers believe.
• The Nutmeg State would legalize Tribal sportsbooks in the state.

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut is pushing forward to get sports betting legalized for the state in 2021.

Previous roadblocks to getting legislation approved are no longer issues, clearing the way for passage of a sports wagering bill during the 2021 session.

Representative Sean Scanlon who will act as the House Chairman of the Finance Committee says making a legal sports gaming industry in Connecticut is a top priority of his in the new year.

What’s Changed?

Plenty has changed since the 2020 session when things seemed to end at a standstill. There were two bills, one where the Tribes of Connecticut ran sportsbooks while the other allowed for both Tribes and commercial businesses to offer sports betting.

This created opposition by the Tribes, who maintain that they have exclusivity on all gaming in the state of Connecticut, sports wagering included.

Governor Ned Lamont wanted an all-encompassing market for gambling on sporting events in his state and he was also against online and mobile sports betting platforms. However, since the Coronavirus Pandemic, he has changed his views on what a Connecticut sports gaming market should look like going into 2021.

The Governor is now in favor of internet and mobile sportsbooks as well as the industry being a strictly Tribal one. This is in the best interest of the Nutmeg State as they receive a ton of money from the casino market that they would no longer be entitled to should they break the Tribal Gaming Compacts if they were to use commercial sportsbook operations.

Now, they’ll have casino gaming revenue and sports betting revenue to help their economy come back from the losses caused by COVID-19 and no threat of legal repercussions for the inclusion of non-Tribal businesses; a trifecta of wins.

“I want to put forward something that works, that doesn’t result in litigation, that gets us off the dime,” said Lamont. “We’ve been talking about this for close to a decade in this state. And I think Connecticut ought to participate and it ought to be led by the tribes.”

Foxwoods Resort Casino, owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut has partnered with DraftKings in anticipation of a legal sports betting industry.

DraftKings will be fully behind any legislation that will make betting on sports legal for the Nutmeg State as they have now entered the area for business. With the Governor, Foxwoods, and DraftKings in the corner of making sports wagers legal in Connecticut, it has already been assumed that this is all but a done deal for 2021.

What’s To Come

Connecticut needs the revenue that gambling on sporting events could help with. Having so many people now in favor of the industry, it’s almost certain that the state will see sports wagering legalized in the 2021 session.

“Sports betting will be legalized in 2021, it’s one of my biggest priorities,” said Rep. Sean Scanlon, incoming House chairman of the legislature’s finance committee. “You can bet on it.”