The first week of sports betting and online casino gambling drew enough activity to push Connecticut to No. 9 in the US
In the first week of legal sports betting and online casino gambling in Connecticut, 1.2 million transactions took place, propelling the state to No. 9 among states in overall online sports betting and traffic, a geographic tracking company says.
Boosted by strong interest from its bettors in its populous neighbor New York, Connecticut surpassed Colorado, which has 2.2 million more residents than Connecticut. The betting law approved in May by Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly requires online betting in-state.
Transactions are defined as required geolocation checks when a bet is placed or before. Recurring period checks may be done to validate eligibility.
The data, collected and analyzed by GeoComply Solutions Inc., a Canadian company that applies technology to detect online fraud, said last week the concentration of gambling activity is in southwestern Connecticut, originating in New York. As a result, it said evidence shows a “definite appetite for legal, regulated betting options in the region, particularly from New York.”
Sports betting could be rolled out in New York early next year, forcing residents in the meantime to look to nearby Connecticut, GeoComply said. Previously, New Jersey, which legalized sports betting in 2018, was a popular destination for sports betting. Geocomply tracks sports betting in 18 states and the District of Columbia.
“We’ve learned from the New Jersey experience that New Yorkers are clearly motivated to travel locally to bet on sites where proper consumer protections have been put in place that safeguard the integrity of their wager,” stated Chad Kornett, vice president of global government relations at GeoComply. “Connecticut looks to be quickly following a similar pattern: Easily accessed from the New York City area.”
GeoComply’s data shows 38% of Connecticut’s betting activity has originated from the southwestern corner of the state along the I-95 corridor, the company said. Heavy volume has been concentrated in Stamford and Bridgeport, and other highway entry points stretching north along the New York border also have been “hot spots,” GeoComply said.
The data are the first bits of information to illustrate the success of online gambling in Connecticut, which launched Oct. 19.
Rich Roberts, president of Mohegan Digital, the iGaming division of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, said early online gambling performance has been “very encouraging,” with MoheganSunCasino.com and its partner, FanDuel Sportsbook, bringing in new customers.
Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Connecticut Lottery Corp. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
GeoComply says its software is installed on more than 400 million devices worldwide and analyzes more than 3 billion transactions a year. Its products incorporate location, device and identity intelligence, with advanced machine learning to detect and flag fraudulent activity.
Connecticut legalized sports betting and online casino gambling and lottery sales in May. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun opened sports betting sites in the casinos in September and casino games and lottery sales were launched on iPhones, computers and other devices last month.
The first of 15 retail betting sites opened last week in New Haven.
Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.
