On Wednesday, Connecticut’s Governor Ned Lamont, via the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, announced that the state collected about $1.7 million over its debut month of legal sports wagering and online gaming. The Nutmeg State unveiled its regulated market with a quick soft launch before widespread activity took place after seven days. Overall, the reported figures were recorded for the 20 days starting from October 12th running through October 31st.
In his speech when he was announcing the results for the opening month of sports wagering and iGaming, Gov. Lamont said in part:
Quote“This first revenue collection for our state reinforces the process and approach by my administration when it came to ensuring our sports betting, and iCasino platforms worked seamlessly for consumers. We worked tirelessly with our casino and state partners to ensure Connecticut consumers would have positive user experiences across platforms, and that is exactly what these results illustrate. We’re off to a great start with this new gaming marketplace, and we’re looking forward to years of success.”
Connecticut Sportsbooks Rack Up About $55 Million Worth of Wagers
In a span of about three weeks, the Nutmeg’s State sports betting trifecta, FanDuel, DraftKings, and the SugarHouse sportsbook, took in a handle of more than $54.6 million. The first sports wagers in Connecticut were accepted on October 12th, but full-scale sports betting was betting became available a week later. So, for the entire period of regulated activity in October, the three sports betting operators garnered $4.9 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR). Most of this windfall was generated from sports wagers placed on the NFL season events.
The FunDuel sportsbook, which is tied to Mohegan Sun’s Uncasville casino, accepted a total handle of about $27.1 million. It, therefore, became Connecticut’s best-performing sports betting operator in October from a handle point of view. For a 3% hold, the GGR generated from FanDuel’s performance was $812,707. Meanwhile, DraftKings, the Foxwoods-tethered sportsbook, facilitated $23.8 million worth of sports wagers but leaped ahead of FanDuel when it came to the gross gaming revenue generated.
Interestingly, DraftKings ended up accounting for about 75% of the entire GGR with nearly $3.6 million after posting a 15.1% win rate on the said handle. As for the SugarHouse sportsbook, which also conducted in-person sports betting via the Connecticut Lottery, processed a $3.8 million handle. As a result, SugarHouse ended up claiming $498,425 in GGR from a 13.2% hold.
All in all, Connecticut’s trio of sports betting operators held on to 25% of the revenue they generated as promotional play. As such, the Nutmeg State was left with just over $3.7 million in adjusted income, and with a 13.75% tax rate imposed on sports wagering revenue, $512,951 million went to state coffers.
DraftKings and FanDuel Go Toe-to-Toe for iGaming
For the debut month of iGaming in Connecticut, DraftKings and FanDuel were the only two operators that offered the service. Mohegan Digital, through FanDuel, managed to rake in $123 million in casino gaming wagers and was left with $4 million after paying back $119 million to players. After accounting for the $1 million that it spent on promotions, the house was left with a $3 million profit. From a taxable gaming rate of 18%, the Nutmeg State won $545,478 for its coffers.
On the other hand, DraftKings, via the Mashantucket Pequots tribal nation – the operators of Foxwoods Resort Casino amassed a total of $189.5 million from its online casino gambling action. After paying back $183.5 million to players in winnings and deducting the $1.2 million spent on promotional play, the operator was left with a $3.6 million profit. Following an 18% taxation, the Nutmeg State’s cut from DraftKings iGaming activity was $649,879.
As a result of the performances of the two operators, Connecticut accepted a total of $312 million in casino gaming wagers. That online casino gaming activity ended up generating $1.19 million worth of tax for the Nutmeg State in its first month of operations. It’s worth pointing out that after 2026, the tax rate for online casino gaming will be increased to 20%.
In light of DraftKings’ October performance and that of the entire Nutmeg State at large, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Chairman Rodney Butler said in a statement:
Quote“We’re encouraged by the early results showing a clear enthusiasm and interest in online sports betting and gaming in Connecticut. We’re proud to deliver new gaming experiences with DraftKings that also drive valuable revenue to the state. The engagement sets a promising benchmark, and we expect the momentum to only build as more consumers get in on the action, and the NFL season peaks over the coming months.”
