The Connecticut legislature is again looking at a bill that would take an omnibus approach to gaming in the state, with the goal of approving sports betting and allowing the gaming tribes to build a casino in Bridgeport.
However, Governor Ned Lamont is cautioning that a simpler bill might be more appropriate. He supports a bill that would allow the tribes, state lottery and OTB operators to offer sports betting.
The governor early last year sought a more complicated bill, “global gaming resolution” as he termed it. He spent several months in negotiation and was burned when he and the tribes could come to no agreement.
His spokesman Max Reiss commented, “It also builds upon the state’s existing partnership with the tribes, is more likely to withstand legal challenges from third party competitors, and promotes a fair and competitive sports betting market outside the tribes’ reservations.”
The bill the governor warns against is being pushed by Bridgeport’s legislative delegation allied with lawmakers who represent the region where the Foxwoods casino and Mohegan Sun are located.
The bill they are pushing is almost identical to one they advocated in 2019 which stalled. Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim disagrees with Lamont and argues that the time is now because of several economic development enterprises that have begun in the city along the waterfront. They would mesh well with the $100 million that the bill would authorize the tribes to spend on a casino.
State lawmakers want Connecticut to catch up with other New England states that have legalized sports betting. Complicating that is the fact that the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes refuse to support any sports betting bill that doesn’t guarantee them a monopoly on it. Otherwise they threaten to withhold the 25 percent of slots profits that they current pay the state. Last year they paid about $270 million.
Mashantucket Pequot tribal Chairman Rodney Butler reaffirmed that stance last week and said the tribes would take the state to court to defend the principle. “There’s no question,” he said.
