One quirk of the emerging regulated sports betting market in the United States is that football is king. Americans’ love of football is so extreme that roughly $100 billion was wagered last year on NFL games alone (which is to say nothing about the hundreds of millions that are wagered on college games each year).
Given football’s extreme importance in generating revenue, it’s surprising to find that Connecticut, the latest US State to introduce regulated sports betting, may not have its sports betting operations up-and-running in time to cash in the NFL’s opening weekend.
According to a report on SBC Americas, the state’s approved operator Rush Street Interactive, will not be operating on September 9, the first weekend of the NFL season, because of a standard, ongoing review by state officials. The review is standard operating procedure and in no way indicates issues with RSI, but it’s certainly has to be annoying for RSI. In fact, Rob Simmelkjaer, Chairman, Connecticut Lottery Corporation Board of Directors recently praised RSI saying, “Rush Street Interactive is a respected sports betting and gaming company that has established itself as a leading innovator in the industry. We are impressed not only with RSI’s successes in other jurisdictions, particularly in neighboring New York and New Jersey, but also its commitment to responsible gambling practices.”
On the tribal gaming side of the Connecticut sports betting market, Mohegan Gaming and Mashantucket Pequot, which are paired respectively with FanDuel and DraftKings, are still waiting for approval from the US Department of Interior before they can launch their sports betting operations.
While it’s unlikely that any Connecticut operators will be missing the entire football season, it’s very likely that they’ll be missing the sport’s opening weekend.