There is still much more unknown than firm when it comes to the future Connecticut Lottery sportsbook. A small ray of insight into what Connecticut sports betting will look like broke through the clouds of uncertainty Wednesday, though.
It appears the CT Lottery, through its partnership with Rush Street Interactive, will employ the PlaySugarHouse brand for its online and retail sportsbooks.
While that’s understandably whetting the appetites of CT bettors, there’s no reason to start salivating just yet.
Connecticut Lottery sportsbook goes with PlaySugarHouse
RSI employs the BetRivers Sportsbook brand in most of the jurisdictions it offers regulated wagering. Perhaps the biggest exception to that rule is New Jersey. PlaySugarHouse is one of the most well-known online sportsbooks in the Garden State.
Connecticut’s proximity to NJ might be part of the reason why these parties chose PlaySugarHouse here. The brand recognition could help the sportsbook compete with the other two CT mobile betting apps: DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook.
Both those brands come in with ready-made customer rolls due to Connecticutters playing daily fantasy games. In addition, their retail presence at Foxwoods Casino and Mohegan Sun won’t hurt.
The CT Lottery will counter with 15 retail locations at some point around the state. Those brick-and-mortar amenities will bear the PlaySugarHouse branding as well. None of the locations have been announced yet. In addition, it’s still uncertain how uniform the locations will be in terms of provisions like the number of betting kiosks, betting windows, beverage menus, food service, and viewing options.
What is apparent is that CT sports betting, perhaps to a limited extent, could be just days away from starting. All involved parties have cleared every necessary legal hurdle.
On-reservation sports betting so close yet so far away
Last week, the US Dept. of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the gaming compacts between the state, the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe, and the Mohegan Indian Tribe. On Wednesday, the Mohegan compact appeared in the federal register.
That means the compact has been executed and is now fully in effect. At the same time, FanDuel has been working on preparing a temporary retail sportsbook on the casino grounds. Thus, it seems sports betting at the casino is ready to go as soon as everyone feels comfortable.
In fact, CT Gov. Ned Lamont said retail wagering could start “any day now.” Lamont said he hopes the two tribal casinos will collaborate on something soon, so both brick-and-mortar sportsbooks could start taking bets on the same day instead of separately.
As far as online wagering goes, Lamont said he hopes that will start within a few weeks. There might not be a lot of advance warning when the time comes for either online or retail betting.
Ahead of the launch date, expect new customer offers from all three sports betting apps. Connecticutters now know for sure exactly which three apps those are.
