Sports betting could begin in Connecticut as early as September 2021 — just in time for the start of football season. The Connecticut Lottery Corporation announced on August 12 that Rush Street Interactive, a Chicago-based firm, will be the CLC’s sports betting operations partner. The state will partner with MCG client Sportech to operate its brick and mortar sports betting retail venues.
Connecticut legalized sports betting in May of this year.
“We are confident we will be taking sports bets this NFL season, in the early part of it,” says Rob Simmelkjaer, chairman of CT Lottery. “Just a matter of what exactly that date will be is still a bit open to consideration.”
Headquartered in Connecticut, Sportech is currently contracted by the state to operate 10 of the 15 locations the state will authorize for legal betting. Sportech is in a strong position to ramp up the process because it already runs off-track-betting outlets and the popular Bobby V’s Restaurant and Sports Bar venues in Connecticut.
"We are very excited to partner with Sportech to bring retail sports betting to all corners of the state of Connecticut,” Simmelkjaer says. “Their existing locations and licensed staff will allow us to get to market quickly.”
Connecticut has made a 10-year agreement with Sportech for the 10 locations. As authorized under state statute, there are still five more locations remaining where Connecticut can have sports betting. The CT Lottery says it has not made any decisions yet about which company will handle the remaining five, but the state could contract with Sportech for those as well.