UNCASVILLE, Conn. (WTIC Radio) - Sports gaming has arrived in Connecticut.
The first bets were placed this morning at Mohegan Sun Casino's temporary sportsbook. Governor Ned Lamont kicked it off with a $50 bet on the Connecticut Sun while at Mohegan's Bow & Arrow Sports Bar.
Lamont later placed the first wager at Foxwoods Resort Casino at its temporary Ultimate Race Book in the Rainmaker Casino.
After years of back-and-forth, the state legislature passed the measure last spring, followed by the requisite changes to the compacts with Connecticut's two federally recognized Native American tribes and license approvals from the Department of Consumer Protection.
"We passed this in May," Lamont said to a round of applause while at Foxwoods, "and here we are, four months later, casting our first bet. This is faster than any other state in the country to be able to get going."
This is just the start, Mohegan Tribal Chairman James Gessner said.
Both casinos are operating out of a temporary site as a permanent location is finalized, officials said.
Foxwoods and DraftKings expect to announce the opening of their permanent retail sportsbook in the coming weeks. As for Mohegan Sun, the goal is to open the permanent sportsbook with FanDuel in time for Super Bowl 56 in February, Gessner said.
Online sports betting was set to launch in Connecticut on October 7, but Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Chairman Rodney Butler explained that licensing and regulatory approvals are taking longer than expected.
"We're ready to launch," Butler said, "but the goal of the seventh, because of the soft launch, we're going to miss that obviously. Hopefully, we're soft launching in the next week or two here."
The hope is to have an official launch with online sports betting and iGaming sometime in November, Butler said.
