Connecticut Committee Opposes Sports Gambling Bill

Just a few days ago, lawmakers from the US state of Connecticut introduced a new sports betting bill, and it was expected that it would be easily accepted by the committee.

But, the bill was brought, on March 13, in front of the Committee of Public Safety and Security, which met to discuss it…

…and now the future of this bill doesn’t look so bright like it did before.

Meeting of the Officials

So, the Committee had a meeting that lasted seven hours, where they discussed House Bill 7331. The aim of this bill is to legalize mobile sports betting in the state of Connecticut…

…since in the first bill, the lawmakers were all about launching sports betting only in land-based casinos.

Various representatives gathered at that meeting. There were representatives from the state lottery, the NBA officials, operators, local tribes, and also the addiction groups. All of them were present in order to offer their opinion regarding this matter to the lawmakers. But, the lawmakers were not so much in a good mood.

“Off-shore gambling of this ilk is going on in this state. Certainly, you wouldn’t sit here today and say that that will go away?” Republican Representative, Craig Fishbein, asked Rich Pingel, chief legal officer for Sportech, an operator in the state for off-track betting.

“We’d like to think we’ll get a lot of it, in addition to some people who weren’t placing bets before. We’ve seen … people driving down to NJ, when they could (sports bet) just as easily on the black market. So there is an appetite for legal, regulated sports betting. There is a bit of confusion now with our neighboring states offering this, people want to do it here legally,” Pingel responded.

The Tension Surrounded the Bill

Fishbein also wanted to go over the integrity fees clause in this bill once again, because of misunderstandings. He understood that the integrity fee would open up the sports leagues to lawsuits for fraud, so Pingel added that it is just a royalty.

Representative Fishbein also said that this could put an end to the tribes paying the state a part of their gambling revenues…

…so once again they discussed that the court should go through these clauses before proceeding any further with the bill.

Republican Representative, Dan Champagne, was on the tribes’ side and he said that the state should continue working with them.

The Connecticut Tribes

The state of Connecticut has a deal with tribes that allows them to be in charge of the casinos, but in return, they have to share their revenue with the state. But, since the question of sports betting hasn’t been discussed yet, it will probably have to be as soon as possible.

Michael Mudrick, executive director of the Coalition Against Casino Expansion in Connecticut, and Diana Goode, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling…

…were also among the representatives that are against the bill. But, the committee still hasn’t voted on it, so not everything is officially lost yet.

Source:

“Connecticut sports gambling bill faces vocal opposition in committee”, Derek Tonin, calvinayre.com, March 14, 2019.