In just under four weeks’ time, the Nutmeg State could become the Parlay Leg State. On Friday, the Connecticut Dept. of Consumer Protection confirmed that the state hopes for a Connecticut online gambling launch as soon as Thursday, Oct. 7.
If that happens, it means Connecticutters could join the rarified air of people with legal casinos available on their phones and have the option to place legal wagers on the majority of the current NFL season. It also means the involved parties have worked to make gambling expansion a reality on a tight timeframe.
Connecticut online gambling launch aiming for Oct. 7
The past few weeks have been building to this point, which ironically sets up the next few weeks to build to Oct. 7. Earlier this month, the US Dept. of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs gave its approval to new compacts between the state, the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe, and the Mohegan Tribe.
With regulations already in place back in CT, that essentially represented the last legal step necessary for implementation. For the last few days, Gov. Ned Lamont has repeatedly said that a launch is imminent. Late Thursday, his chief of staff started sharing the news about Oct. 7.
Although that’s the target date, none of the involved parties and their partners have yet confirmed they plan to start taking bets then. In fact, the Mohegan Tribe explicitly said it is “not prepared to provide a definitive date today.”
That applies to online casino, online sports betting, and retail sports betting products. Now as the waiting period for these platforms has a target end date, CT residents should familiarize themselves with what’s coming.
What brands are going live in CT soon?
The new agreements allow the Connecticut Lottery to offer both online and retail sports betting. It plans to do so in conjunction with Rush Street Interactive, using the PlaySugarHouse brand for its sportsbooks.
The Lottery has not issued any statements about the locations of any of its 15 retail sportsbooks. Similarly, there’s no official date for when the online sportsbook could go live.
The Mashantucket Pequot have an alliance with DraftKings. Thus, DraftKings Casino and the DraftKings Sportsbook app as well as a retail DraftKings Sportsbook somewhere at Foxwoods Casino are on the horizon.
Like the Mohegan Tribe, the Mashantucket Pequot have not committed to a firm launch date for any of those products.
That trio of new products will be the case for FanDuel Sportsbook and the Mohegan Tribe as well. FanDuel will power a retail sportsbook, online sportsbook, and online casino. The online casino will be a FanDuel product but likely bear the Mohegan Sun name.
Three weeks from Thursday could be a big day in CT when the state will join the most open in the nation in regard to online gambling options.
