Connecticut is one of six states seen as likely to legalize sports betting this year, according to a report entitled “2019 U.S. Sports Betting Outlook,” by James Kilsby, an editor with D.C.-based GamblingCompliance, an independent research firm.
Kilsby wrote: “It is one state where we are provisionally expecting a bill to be passed this year, but it is by absolutely no means a slam dunk. In fact, Connecticut is a microcosm of the legal and lobbying complexities facing sports betting legislation across the country.” The other states he names are Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and New York.
The report notes that up to 33 states will consider sports betting bills this year.
The main roadblock to passage in Connecticut is the tribal state gaming compacts of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, which interpret those documents as giving them a monopoly on all forms of gaming, which they say includes sports betting, even though before the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the ban in May, it was only offered in Las Vegas.
There are several interest groups who want a share of sports betting. They include the off-track-betting company Sportech Venues, the Connecticut Lottery and MGM Resorts International, which does not operate a casino in the Nutmeg state, but is lobbying heavily to be allowed to do so. Finally, there are the various sports leagues, such as the NBA and NFL, which are lobbying nationwide for an “integrity fee” to be collected from all sports betting transactions.
The multitude of conflicting interests is a net that could easily trip up any bill that doesn’t address them in a comprehensive way, says Kilsby. That is the approach favored by state Rep. Joe Verrengia, co-chairman of the Connecticut legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee, which oversees gaming.
Most experts warn that no state should expect huge tax profits from sports betting. Richard Auxier, with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, wrote last week: “Sports gambling will bring in a few extra dollars to the state but it won’t fund large amounts of education or infrastructure. If states want to play, that’s fine, but they shouldn’t bet their budget on it.”
Nevada, for example, has 6.75 percent tax on the sports betting revenue that operators keep after paying off bettors. Rhode Island, Delaware and Pennsylvania have rates of 51, 50 and 36 percent respectively. Rhode Island recently began offering sports betting at its casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton.
Other states that offer sports betting are Mississippi and West Virginia, although one tribal casino in New Mexico also takes sports book bets. Washington D.C. has voted to offer sports betting but hasn’t yet implemented it.
