The special session that Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy plans to call to take up legalizing sports betting likely won’t include online gaming, say key lawmakers. Even though the most likely way to make sports wager is using a mobile platform such as a Smartphone.
The governor called for a special session after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the ban on sports betting (PASPA) was unconstitutional on fairly narrow grounds. It left open the possibility that Congress could craft a new law governing sports betting.
He declared, “As of today, I am prepared to call the General Assembly into special session to consider legalizing sports betting in Connecticut.” He added, “It is incumbent on us to consider the question of legalized sports betting in a thoughtful way that … fully realizes the economic potential that this opportunity provides.”
House Majority Leader Matt Ritter told the Connecticut Mirror “A special session does not lend itself to something so complicated. How do you verify age? How does it work when you go across the border? Are there daily limits?”
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora added, “We really need to have the capacity for a full public hearing process and have it vetted. Unlike other issues, there’s not necessarily a deadline that is required of us to act. I think generally all the caucuses are concerned. I don’t believe there is one caucus saying we should bring it up.”
The state currently allows online off-track betting.
The governor says he will let lawmakers set the parameters for the state tribal gaming compacts he is currently negotiating with the tribes that operate Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun, the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans. His negotiators have met with them three times and he participated in one.
He said he has heard loud and clear the leaders’ preference for avoiding stepping into the weeds of online betting, even if the tribes want to address it. “I think that the tribal nations are in a position to deal with reality, and if the reality is the legislature is not going to take up online gaming separate and apart from whatever is required from sports betting, that’s the situation,” he said.
He won’t call officially call for the special session until an agreement is reached. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act would allow the tribes to offer sports betting once the state legalizes it. What is unclear is whether the tribes could claim a monopoly on sports betting without that being written into their compacts.
This is a question because it is unclear whether sports betting is a Class III, i.e. casino game. It is a vital question because the tribes currently pay 25 percent of their gaming profits to the state in return for exclusive rights to offer casino games. They paid about $270 million to the state last year.
The 2018 legislative session ended May 9 without any sports betting legislation. Hardly surprising given that the Supreme Court’s ruling came a week earlier.
One reason was that the tribes immediately stated that they should have exclusive rights to offer sports betting. The state’s racetracks and its 16 off track betting facilities, as well as the state lottery, argued otherwise, pointing out that sports betting is not addressed in the compacts. State Attorney General George Jepsen agrees.
He issued a statement, “Sports betting is not listed as an authorized game. By contrast, for example, pari-mutuel betting on horse and dog racing and jai alai games are authorized games. The exclusion of sports betting from the specific list of authorized games is compelling evidence that the Compacts do not presently authorize it.”
Malloy is trying to craft a compromise. He argues that including online gaming to the discussions would help bring an agreement closer. The Mohegans and Pequots have both said they support both sports betting and iGaming, with the latter being their preference because they think it has a bigger profit potential.
During the legislative session last month, Avi Alroy, vice president of interactive gaming for Mohegan Sun, said in a written testimony, “To clarify, I believe that the state of Connecticut will benefit from both online casino gaming and sport wagering as it will reduce unregulated bets that are done locally and off-shore, and increase state revenues.”
Because the state wants its tribal casinos to remain competitive, and casinos in other states, such as the Yonkers Raceway and Empire City casino are figuratively breathing down their necks, the legislature and tribes have a real incentive to reach a deal.
