The state of Connecticut could soon be eyeing the addition of online gambling to its existing industry.
Recently, the hotel and casino complex Foxwoods Resort Casino, which is owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe revealed that it has entered into a partnership agreement with the online games and systems PariPlay. According to experts, the collaboration could end up with a push for real-money online gambling over the upcoming years.
According to the press release announcing the two parties’ partnership, the interactive gaming platform eyeON of PariPlay has been taken up by the Foxwoods casino to allow its customers access to digital gaming on site. For the time being, such on-premises gambling options are subjected to regulatory review and approval, but a possible push of the largest resort casino in North America towards online gambling operations would not be surprising.
As revealed in the press release, for the time being there has not been much clarity about Foxwood Casino’s ability to offer real-money on-site online gambling services to its customers. Still, considering the fact that the deal has already been reached, a push for online gambling offering would not be impossible to imagine. If something like that happens, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe could expand its offering with real-money online games directly on its Foxwoods property. According to market experts, the collaboration with PariPlay could end up with online sports betting services added to the Foxwoods Casino offering.
Sports Betting Seen as the First Step to Expansion
With the above said, the state of Connecticut could soon set its eyes on the provision of online gambling. The state made some steps towards legalization of sports betting in 2017, with local lawmakers sharing their hopes to make sports betting legal until the end of 2018.
Despite that, sports betting legalization remains under question for Connecticut, as there are some issues which first need to be resolved in order for this to happen.
First and foremost, the US federal law needs to be changed in order for sports betting to be officially allowed on the territory of the country. Should the state of New Jersey win in its US Supreme Court case, the country’s federal laws would be changed in favour of sports betting services. In addition, annulment which the state of Connecticut has previously set on sports betting also needs to be removed in order for further changes to be brought to the state. And last, but not least, The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protections would have to forge a regulatory framework in order to guarantee the offering of safe, fair and transparent sports betting to local customers.
All this makes the state of Connecticut one of the states that are most likely to push for online gambling expansion in the near future. The regional competition is becoming fiercer, so the state has started to look for various ways to boost the revenues generated by the two existing tribal casinos. Back in 2017, the Mohegan and the Mashantucket Pequot tribes joined forces in a joint venture project, which was approved by the state.
