In what could be a primary, Connecticut lawmakers have introduced they’re contemplating a brand new invoice that would probably cap on-line sports activities betting wagers, a transfer that would influence not solely high-stake bettors however state sportsbook revenues too.
The newest gambling-orientated proposal – SB01464 – was launched within the Senate’s Joint Committee on Basic Legislation final week, and included a variety of sweeping on-line poker and betting measures.
The invoice’s major purpose is to facilitate a transfer for Connecticut to hitch the Multi-State Web Gaming Settlement (MSIGA). The MSIGA permits on-line poker gamers to compete throughout state traces, growing participant swimming pools and liquidity.
Given the attraction of becoming a member of MSIGA, SB01464 would allow Connecticut to hitch six different states together with Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, and West Virginia within the settlement, facilitating a bigger pool of on-line poker gamers from every state.
But, considerably covertly, lawmakers have additionally crowbarred in a clause about limiting on-line sports activities guess. Whereas the invoice doesn’t specify what the particular wager cap could be, its absence means the choice will likely be left to the Commissioner of Shopper Safety.
The transfer has shocked some within the trade, notably as Connecticut’s sports activities betting sector has been hovering because it was first legalized in October 2021, producing a formidable $6 billion in deal with to date, with 95% of bets positioned on-line.
Not solely that, however current betting figures exhibit development for sports activities betting in Connecticut, with the Nutmeg States’ prime 5 month-to-month betting handles all occurring between final September and January of this 12 months.
The invoice’s provision to impose a betting cap restriction would solely seemingly influence the state’s big-money bettors. Nevertheless, the repercussions wouldn’t solely have an effect on the foremost on-line sportsbooks like FanDuel, DraftKings, and Fanatics, but it surely may additionally severely dent the state’s tax revenues.
Undoubtedly, if handed, SB01464 may dramatically reshape the state’s on-line playing panorama as lawmakers attempt to stability the state’s playing sector’s additional growth with smart laws.
However, for now, the destiny of Connecticut’s excessive rollers stays very a lot within the stability as they await to see if a betting cap will curtail their stake values.
