Connecticut retail sports betting launched recently, and it has been a huge success throughout the state. The betting kiosks at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods have been utilized by people throughout the state. However, these casinos are located in the eastern portion of the state, so it has limited the number of bets placed.
Online sports betting was scheduled to launch in Connecticut on Thursday, but it was delayed. The soft launch is now scheduled for Tuesday, creating an exciting time for the state’s new gambling sector.
Sports Betting Delayed in Connecticut
Online sports betting is where massive handles are visible throughout the national betting industry. Connecticut will be a significant betting state when online betting launches for a variety of reasons. It’s centrally located between Massachusetts and New York.
Additionally, DraftKings and FanDuel will headline the mobile betting apps in the state. The Department of Consumer Protection told the Connecticut Lottery that sports betting would be delayed last week because of an issue at the federal level.
The lottery was given the clearance to launch online sports betting on Tuesday at 3 PM ET. The Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot have taken advantage of this offer, and a soft launch is underway in the state to test out the platforms.
DCP Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull spoke following the announcement of the soft launch.
She said; “We appreciate the hard work of our licensees and their teams, as well as the team at DCP, for their diligence in ensuring these platforms are compliant with the regulations approved by the legislature. As long as no issues arise, we have told the licensees they may move forward with the seven-day soft launch required in the regulations. Once the soft launch is complete, online gaming will open statewide.”
Soft Launch Details
The Mohegan Tribe will launch FanDuel Sportsbook, and Foxwoods will license DraftKings in the state. Each platform will also launch an online casino section of the app. There will be 100 table and slot games included on the casino betting platform.
Although, there will be no live dealer or peer-to-peer online casino games. In addition to DraftKings and FanDuel, BetRivers will launch through the state lottery.
Each sportsbook is eligible to sign 750 patrons to their respective platforms. Internet betting will be allowed from 3 PM to 11 PM on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will expand from noon to midnight on Thursday and Friday before a 24-hour cycle for the final portion of the soft launch.
This soft launch would have been the same if sports betting had begun on Thursday. There was a delay in the publications of the Memorandums of Understandings in the federal registrar. Kaitlyn Krasselt, the Communications Director for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, had to break the news to the state, but she ensured the delay would not be extended.
The delay ended up being less than a week, which is a testament to the department and state lottery. If the schedule is maintained, the full launch will occur on October 19, 12 days after the targeted launch of October 5.
