- The soft sports betting launch in CT includes a week’s trial by hundreds of sports bettors.
- Connecticut’s soft launch is limited in terms of accounts and time.
HARTFORD, Conn. - After several delays in the launch of regulated sports betting, Connecticut’s soft launch of online betting options happens on Tuesday.
This will consist of lottery-operated online sports betting; however, the soft launch of online gambling in Connecticut will be fairly limited - it will only allow a few hundred people to wager, and only for a seven-day period.
It seems as though the complete picture in Connecticut is yet to be on the table, but this week should be a good barometer of how sports betting will look.
James Gessner, chairman of the Mohegan Tribe, which operates Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun casino, praised Governor Ned Lamont for getting sports betting up and running in the state.
"The Mohegan Tribe is thankful to Governor Lamont and the Department of Consumer Protection for their cooperative efforts to reach this point, as together we finally make online gaming and sport wagering a reality in Connecticut," Gessner said.
He went on to promote the benefits of sports betting to the state of Connecticut, such as additional revenue for the government and additional jobs for the people.
"Doing so will allow us to not only offer these new products to state residents,” Gessner said. “It will in turn help protect Connecticut jobs and generate additional tax revenues to the benefit of state and local municipal budgets, as well as our tribe’s members. We're excited to take this step, and we look forward to a full launch in the days ahead."
Connecticut’s Rocky Sports Betting Process
Connecticut managed to get retail sportsbooks at the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino up and running in late September.
This was already a potential blow to revenue - the NFL season had started earlier in the month, and several high-volume NFL betting weeks were now off the table.
The launch of online sports betting was similarly delayed, with the original launch planned for Thursday and the launch this week causing another CT loss in revenue.
This soft-launch should iron out any kinks in the online sportsbooks, and thus should allow for full sports betting in Connecticut as soon as possible.