Connecticut Fills Out Small Betting Family With Rush Street Interactive

The Connecticut legal sports betting scene is coming together thanks to the naming of the third and final provider that will get the chance at a market share in the state, Rush Street Interactive. The Connecticut Lottery on Thursday filled out their mandated three-provider family with Rush Street, who join the two biggest DFS providers-turned Heavyweight sports betting providers in the country as purveyors of a Connecticut market that has no clear indication of just when it will launch.

Rush Street and the DFS/sports betting providers beat out 15 major companies for access into the Connecticut market.

“Rush Street Interactive is a respected sports betting and gaming company that has established itself as a leading innovator in the industry,” Rob Simmelkjaer, chairman of the lottery’s board of directors, said in a news release. “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.”

Some Details

Rush Street will take the opportunity soon of choosing between their two brands to take into Connecticut - SugarHouse Sportsbook and BetRivers Sportsbook. The company will bring just one of those brands to market but hasn't decided yet which one will go live.

Rush Street stepped up their game and exceeded a minimum $95 million guarantee that the Lottery required from prospective providers for their state. They promised the Connecticut Lottery $170 million in revenues over the life of the 10-year agreement. That figure was not lost on the decision-makers within the state's Lottery.

“We chose RSI for a number of reasons,” Lottery Chair Rob Simmelkjaer said. “First of all, from the purely financial point of view, we graded and we perceived their offer to be the best offer among the ones received from various bidders.”

As part of the agreement, Rush Street will gain 10 of 15 retail locations throughout the state thanks to an alignment with Connecticut-based Sportech, which will also get a cut of the state's wagering revenues. Rush Street, thanks to the Sportech connection becomes the largest provider in the Connecticut scene.

Still Work to Be Done

The idea of legal sports betting in Connecticut is in relative infancy, making the timeline for launch seen a tad ambitious at this point in time. It was just May 27 that legal sports wagering was signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont, setting off a period of legislation, consultation and negotiations ahead of the desired fall launch.

But stepping back, there is still work to be done before Connecticut bettors get a chance at throwing down on their favorite teams. The renegotiated tribal compacts with the Mohegan Tribe and Mashantucket Pequot Tribe still haven't been approved by the US Department of the Interior and many of the rules for the platform still have yet to be drawn up.

Nothing happens without the Department of the Interior's approval and there won't be a platform without a tangible set of rules to govern its presence.

In the End...

Most of the heavy lifting for a Connecticut legal sports betting platform has been done. But there are a few key dominoes that still have to fall before launch. The naming of Rush Street as its third and final provider is certainly a big step.

The good news is that when all the "I's" are dotted and the "T's" are crossed, providers will be ready to go.

“Our focus is to be ready whenever the Connecticut opportunity presents itself,” said Richard Schwartz, president of Rush Street. “We have a track record of being first to launch in a wide range of markets. We were first to launch sports betting in Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, first day in Michigan. And so our goal is to be prepared to launch as soon as it’s viable in Connecticut.”

As for the fall launch timeline, it looks like a tough ask right now. Connecticut will definitely be live in 2021 but betting on their first NFL game of the season September 9 may be a bit overly optimistic.

“We are confident we will be taking sports bets this NFL season, in the early part of it. It’s just a matter of what exactly that date will be is still a bit open to consideration,” said Rob Simmelkjaer.