An off-track betting operator based in Connecticut has renewed its efforts to see sports betting legalized, with the company blaming the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes as the major obstacle that has so far prevented the state government from resolving the matter.
The tribes that own the Mohegan Sun and the Foxwoods Resort Casino, respectively, struggled to have their gaming agreements with the state renewed in order to keep their exclusive rights to offer sports betting on the territory of Connecticut in case the new form of gambling is made legal in the state.
In an opinion piece that was first published by the online news outlet CT News Junkie, the president of Sportech Venues, Ted Taylor, urged the state authorities to officially allow his company, the Connecticut Lottery Corp., and the local Indian tribes to offer sports betting services to local punters. Sportech, which is the US unit of a UK gambling company, currently operates about 12 off-track betting facilities in bars and restaurants across Connecticut. The brand also operates an online betting platform that allows local gamblers to place bets on dog races, horse races and jai alai.
In the abovementioned piece, called “The State Must Remove the Artificial Barriers to Sports Betting”, Mr. Taylor categorizes sports betting as a casino game and says that as such, it is covered by the gaming compacts of local Indian tribes allowing them to operate casino gaming in Connecticut. He further noted that if the casino gaming exclusivity clause is breached, the tribes will no longer be required to pay a portion of their slot-machine revenue to the state.
Connecticut Tribes Oppose the Proposal, Saying It Is “Offensive”
The former attorney general of the state of Connecticut, George Jepsen, questioned a claim made by the local tribes in 2018. Sportech’s boss, on the other hand, cited some testimony of attorney Daniel Wallach from March 2020, under which sports betting is a game of skill rather than a casino game.
According to him, it would be now logical for the state of Connecticut to break the deadlock and provide sports betting operating licenses to the operators that already offer gambling services in the state, including the Indian tribes. Mr. Taylor says that the competent authorities should act as soon as possible in order to better protect the consumers and financial stability in 2020.
The chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, Rodney Butler, however, said that he found the aforementioned piece of opinion extremely offensive. He referred to the $3-million contribution that Sportech made to the state of Connecticut in fiscal 2019, highlighting the fact that the tribes’ slot-machine revenue generated in the same year amounted to $255 million. According to him, stripping the Indian tribes of the exclusive rights to offer sports betting to local audiences will deprive the state of essential tax revenue that is currently distributed to the communities to fund certain projects.
For the time being, most analysts believe that it is not likely for the legislature to take up sports betting on online gambling in a special session of the lawmakers that is set to take place in September.
