A Tale of Sports Gambling in Two States

By population, Florida is the third-largest state in the U.S. with nearly 22 million residents. Conversely, Connecticut barely cracks the top 30 at just over 3.5 million residents. If any state could benefit from the tax revenue created by sports bettors, it would be Florida. Shockingly, Florida seems miles away from passing sports betting legislation while Connecticut inches closer to allowing sports bets by the start of the 2021 NFL regular season. That would be starting the second week of September.

Florida Trying to Give the Sports Betting Store to the Seminole Tribe

Based on a recent agreement (new 30-year gambling Compact) between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and leaders from the Seminole Indian Tribe, the Tribe would get exclusive rights to offer Florida residents access to mobile and retail sports betting. They would also get the right to offer craps and roulette in the casinos they own on Indian land.

In exchange for those rights, the state of Florida would get a $500 million yearly revenue share payment. While that sounds like a fairly straightforward deal that would benefit both parties, there are some very serious issues at hand.

First, pari-mutuel interests, pro sports teams, and small business interests would be excluded from a chance to secure an operator's license to offer sports betting in their establishments. That is sure to lead to years of robust litigation, something that's certain because of the revenue that is at stake.

Second, the deal means nothing until Florida the Department of the Interior approves the deal. That is not likely to happen because of the virtual monopoly it would give the Seminoles over the gambling industry in Florida. Also, such an agreement is currently illegal based on the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Connecticut Down to Four Potential Exclusive Sports Betting Operators

While Florida toils over the question of legalizing sports betting in the state, Connecticut is likely within about three weeks of naming the Online Sports Betting Operator that will have exclusive control over the state's sports betting operations.

By law, the Connecticut Lottery will serve as the regulatory body looking over the state's online gambling industry. In that capacity, they requested applications from any online operators who want to earn the right to control sports betting in the state. There was a total of 15 responses. Lottery officials cut the prospective list down to five operators and asked for a Request for Proposal, of which they received four responses.

The four operators that are still in the running for selection are FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Entertainment, PointsBet, and Wynn Bet (late entry). The winner of this process will be licensed to provide one online sports betting skin and up to 15 retail betting sites throughout the state.

The lottery is expected to make an announcement by June 10. At that point, the winning operator will surely get fast to work in an effort to get sports betting operations up and running by the early part of September.