Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy met with leaders of the state’s two gaming tribes before a special session of the legislature that he has called to address sports betting.
Malloy declared, “The future is now and it’s happened. We need to definitively state what our position is.”
He said he wasn’t interested in widening the special session to address other issues such as a casino in Bridgeport or to allowing commercial gaming that would challenge the casinos of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes. However, at the tribes’ urging he agreed to add online gaming.
“It is my opinion, and the opinion of lawyers who have looked at this, that we move forward with a compact where we would not endanger the revenue we receive from the tribes,” said the governor.
Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who is campaigning to replace Malloy when he retires at the end of this year, urged a session that addresses both sports betting and a Bridgeport casino.
Gainim’s spokesman Av Harris, said, “What we do not support is exclusivity of gaming in our state — for anyone. If the governor wants to amend the tribal gaming compacts, then let’s look at everything, not just sports betting.”
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, through a spokesman, indicated that he wants to limit the session to sports betting.
“I need to know whether it’s the intention to include in-state, on-line gaming, because it would make sense to negotiate those things in one negotiation as opposed to two negotiations,” Malloy said, asking if lawmakers would include that too. “And I think, quite frankly, doing them together makes it more like we would reach agreements with the two tribal nations.”
Malloy has been speaking with the tribes about amending the compacts to address sports betting. “I’ve already reached out to the tribes and acknowledged the best way forward is a compact and having discussions with other groups, such as University of Connecticut, which has a major NCAA program,” he told reporters. “It begins with an agreement with the tribes. I would not sign anything into law that endangers the gaming proceeds with the tribes.”
Recently when the state authorized Keno it negotiated a revenue sharing agreement with the tribes. The compacts give the tribes exclusive rights to offer slots. In return they pay 25 percent to the state. Last year this was about $250 million.
Although the existing compacts do not mention sports betting, the tribes say that effectively it is included because they assume that sports betting would be conducted using a video machine.
Pequot Tribal Chairman Rodney Butler, quoted by the New York Times, said, “We have said, ‘We want to work with you,’” Butler said. “Let’s work out an arrangement.”
Everybody agrees that if the state allows a commercial casino in Bridgeport that would violate the compacts. MGM, which is pushing the casino, says the taxes it would pay would more than make up for the $250 million the state would lose.
Harris supports that view. “Taking this step could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue and create thousands of jobs without threatening any gaming industry jobs we already have,” he said.
Bridgeport representatives warn that even if the session is limited to sports betting that they will demand to address a casino for their city.
After meeting with legislative leaders, Malloy seemed to accept that bets being made on smartphones could be a result of allowing online gaming.
“You’re asking questions about how you will prevent that which we already have been unable to prevent in the past,” Malloy said. “I think the right way to ask this question is how we build the best system and the fairest system that allows for gaming, which now is going to become more common nationally than it has in the past.”
Senator Tony Hwang, who has long opposed any expansion of gaming in the state, said that just because other states allow sports betting doesn’t mean Connecticut should.
“ ‘Everybody doing it’ doesn’t mean we should,” he said. “It is important for us to really take a step back and take a look at sports gambling and online gambling. The National Council on Problem Gambling says online and sports gambling are gateway drugs.”
Legislative leaders of both parties, after meeting with the governor, promised to give him direction on what he should be negotiating with the tribes.
