The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes of Connecticut, who have had gaming monopolies in the state for more than 25 years, sent letters to lawmakers last week demanding that exclusivity be extended to sports betting should it ever be legalized.
The tribes sent separate but similarly worded letters to House Speaker Joseph Aresimowicz, admonishing him to “carefully consider a number of factors” before taking any action to legalize the practice.
They warned that their tribal state gaming compacts, which commit them to paying a 25 percent revenue sharing of slots profits to the state in return for exclusive rights to offer Las Vegas style game, also entitles them to the same arrangement for sports betting.
The Mohegans’ letter warned, “If the legislature authorizes sports betting in a manner that constitutes a video facsimile or video game of chance, such an authorization would lift the moratorium under the tribal-state gaming compacts.”
The Speaker told the Hartford Courant said he was open to all discussions. “I’d rather have conversations than say, ‘OK, you stop paying us the money for the compact’ and then we’ll tell you, you can’t have slot machines at all in the state.” He added, “Nobody wants to do that. The tribes are going to be part of any type of gambling we do in the state of Connecticut.”
House Majority Leader Matthew Ritter had a different take. “It was never contemplated, and the specific words were never used. Here we are 26 years later and they’re raising it for the first time.”
