The gaming compact between the state of Connecticut and the Mohegan Tribe is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, meaning it will become operational as the tribe and other stakeholders continue to move closer to a firm sports betting launch date. Notice of the publishing was made public on the Federal Register website Tuesday morning. As of 1 p.m. ET, there was no notice about when the compact between the state and the Mashantucket Pequots would be published. Both pacts were approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior last Thursday.
Both tribes and the Connecticut Lottery will offer legal sports wagering and iGaming, and have said they have plans to go live next month. The Mohegans, who own and operate the Mohegan Sun Casino, are partnered with FanDuel; the Mashantucket Pequots, who own and operate the Foxwoods Casino, are partnered with DraftKings; and the Connecticut Lottery last month selected Rush Street Interactive as its partner.
The state will have three digital sports wagering operators after the tribes agreed to allow the lottery to have a digital sports betting platform and up to 15 retail locations. The lottery cannot offer iGaming.
A few more steps on path to go-live
There are still some steps remaining before any operators can go live — the state’s Department of Consumer Protection must issue supplier and vendor licenses, and operators must send the department a request to go live. According to the law, operators must alert the DCP 10 days in advance of when they want to go live, and then will enter a seven-day soft-launch period.
“We’re continuing to work through licensing details with the state Department of Consumer Protection, and waiting for the Department of Interior to publish its approvals,” Mashantucket Pequot Chairman Rodney Butler said Tuesday. “We’ll be ready to launch as soon as we’re legally allowed to do so.”
The tribes, operators, and the lottery have previously indicated that they will all go live on the same day. The compact approvals and publishings are significant steps toward that end.
– Ted Dahlstrom contributed to this report
