Connecticut has joined the ranks of states that allow legal and regulated online sports betting and casino play, with more than 1.2 million betting transactions recorded since an initial soft launch, according to GeoComply.
One of the biggest driving factors for success of the soft launch, which ran until October 19, is the state’s proximity to New York, one of the states with the greatest interest in legalized sports betting.
New Yorkers have shown their willingness to travel to neighboring states to place bets in the past with New Jersey and many of them have now gotten an even better option in Connecticut.
This has resulted in some amazing numbers thus far, as Connecticut quickly jumped to ninth place on the overall list of states when it comes to online bets made, surpassing the likes of Colorado with far greater populations.
“We’ve learned from the New Jersey experience that New Yorkers are clearly motivated to travel locally to bet on sites where proper consumer protections have been put in place that safeguard the integrity of their wager,” said Chad Kornett, vice president for global government relations at GeoComply.
“Connecticut looks to be quickly following a similar pattern: Easily accessed from the New York City area, GeoComply’s data shows 38% of Connecticut’s wagering activity has originated from the southwestern corner of the state along the I-95 corridor.”
The early success of legalized gaming in Connecticut could be hindered in the near future, however, as New York plans to roll out its own betting operators in the early months of 2022.
How the market finally settled
The State Gaming Compact signed by Gov. Ned Lamont allowed the two tribal communities in the Constitution State to each offer sports betting, online casino and online poker, along with the Connecticut Lottery Corporation (CLC), which will only be offering sports betting.
Partnerships were quickly forged, as the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation partnered up with DraftKings, the Mohegan Tribe entered a deal with FanDuel and the CLC signing a partnership with Rush Street Interactive.
All three operators launched during the soft launch week, with a limit of 750 player accounts per operator. DraftKings, FanDuel and PlaySugarHouse are now fully live, and the soft launch week proved that Connecticut is a state that welcomed legalized online gambling with great enthusiasm.
Is online poker coming to Connecticut?
While both of the tribal operators have already launched their sports betting and online casino products, online poker remains elusive for Connecticut players for the time being, despite two poker rooms being allowed by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation has partnered up with DraftKings, an operator that does not currently own an online poker platform. It’s unlikely to acquire such a platform just to service a state as small as Connecticut.
The Mohegan Tribe, on the other hand, is now in partnership with FanDuel which is owned by Flutter Entertainment, the company that owns PokerStars following their recent acquisition of The Stars Group.
This means that the PokerStars platform could easily be used to power a Mohegan Tribe poker room, but the small population of the state once again poses a problem. The regulations do allow for local poker rooms to enter interstate compacts in the future.
