Connecticut collected roughly $1.7 million during the first month of legalized online gaming and sports wagering, which was kicked off with a soft launch in mid-October.
The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection publishes the monthly gaming revenue statistics on their website. Detailed numbers from the Connecticut Lottery, Mohegan Sun Casino and Foxwoods Casino can be viewed here.
November numbers are expected soon, once payments are made to the state.
Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, said the numbers from October exceeded his team’s expectations.
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“The first two weeks were phenomenal from our perspective,” said Butler. “November is going to be coming out shortly and what you saw in October carried over into November and we saw that same level of growth. I think the state is going to be pleased with the tax payment that is going to be coming their way shortly.”
Butler was at Foxwoods Casino today as his team took the final step in rolling out their online gaming and sports wagering process. They celebrated the official opening of the Draft Kings Sportsbook at Foxwoods, a central location with kiosks, two bars and a restaurant, where people can go in person to place bets.
“We can say we are finally fully open. We are online, we are on premise, we have our app that is working on the reservation, off the reservation and really from this point- it’s just growing the opportunity,” said Butler.
Mohegan Sun partnered with FanDuel and officially launched their sportsbook in October.
“Mohegan Digital is very pleased with the October online gaming performance. Although still very early, our results are tracking in line, to slightly better than we anticipated with our initial projections,” Rich Roberts, President of Mohegan Digital for Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment wrote in a statement.
The Connecticut Lottery operates online and retail sports betting. In October the lottery returned a total of $58,712 in sports betting revenues to the state of Connecticut. The numbers represent the period from October 12 to 31.
According to a spokesperson for the Connecticut Lottery, their retail total represents less than a week because they did not have retail in operation until October 25.
The new industry is expected to bring millions of dollars into the state for years to come. The state receives 13.75% of gross gaming revenue for sports betting and 18% for online casino gaming.
The money is deposited into the state’s general fund.
State Senator Cathy Osten, D – Sprague, said she would like to see more of the money go directly to towns.
“I am working on another bill this year that would put more money towards municipalities which will help out paying for schools, paying for public works,” said Osten.