Is sports betting legal in Connecticut?
Yes, online and in person, at 21. Public Act 21-23, signed May 27, 2021, and amended agreements with the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes legalized it. Three master licensees run the market, and each may offer one online sportsbook: the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe (DraftKings), the Mohegan Tribe (FanDuel) and the Connecticut Lottery Corporation (Fanatics Sportsbook). Retail betting opened at the two tribal casinos on September 30, 2021, and online betting opened to everyone on October 19, 2021, after a soft launch that began October 12.
Where you can bet
The three apps work anywhere in the state. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun have retail sportsbooks, and in January 2025 the Department of Consumer Protection listed 11 more retail locations licensed through the Lottery, including Winners venues in Hartford, Milford, New Britain, Norwalk and Waterbury, the XL Center and Sports Haven in New Haven.
You can't bet on a game involving a Connecticut college team unless it's part of a tournament with four or more teams, and then only on the outcome of the whole tournament. Horse racing, jai alai and greyhound racing fall outside the sports wagering law.
Licensees pay the state 13.75% of gross gaming revenue from sports betting, the rate set in 2021 and still in the statute. Since July 1, 2025, 2% of that money goes to a youth sports grant account.
How Connecticut legalized sports betting
The tribal casinos, 1991 to 2018
Casino gambling in Connecticut runs through the two tribes. After the Mashantucket Pequot won a 1990 federal case forcing the state to negotiate (see below), the Interior Department imposed gaming procedures in place of a compact on May 31, 1991. A memorandum of understanding dated January 13, 1993 let Foxwoods run slot machines in exchange for, generally, 25% of slot revenue, and the Mohegan Tribe signed a compact on May 17, 1994 that took effect December 16, 1994. Mohegan Sun opened in October 1996.
Under both MOUs, if the state lets anyone else run slots or other casino games, the tribes can stop paying the state its share of slot revenue. The 2021 law was written so that none of the new games would end that arrangement.
Public Act 21-23
Governor Ned Lamont's bill, HB 6451, passed the House 122 to 21 on May 20, 2021 and the Senate 28 to 6 on May 25, and he signed it May 27. The act made the two tribes and the Lottery master wagering licensees. Each tribe may run sports betting and fantasy contests on its reservation plus one online sports skin and one online casino skin statewide. The Lottery got online sports betting, online keno and lottery sales, and up to 15 retail sportsbooks, which may be the Sportech off-track betting venues. Online casino gaming went to the tribes only, taxed at 18% for five years and 20% after that.
The agreements run 10 years with an optional five-year renewal. The act also put the tribes' planned off-reservation casino in East Windsor on hold for 10 years, and it requires each tribe to pay $500,000 a year and the Lottery $1 million a year toward problem gambling programs.
The Interior Department approved the Mashantucket Pequot amendment on September 10, 2021, and the Mohegan compact amendment took effect September 15, 2021. The casinos opened their sportsbooks on September 30, and Lamont said he placed the state's first legal in-person bet. The Department of Consumer Protection cleared a seven-day online soft launch capped at 750 patrons per operator starting October 12, and full online betting began at 6 a.m. on October 19 through Rush Street Interactive for the Lottery, FanDuel for the Mohegan and DraftKings for the Mashantucket Pequot. By November 1, 2021, Sportech had opened full betting at three of its bars, in Stamford, Bradley and New Haven, after a one-week soft launch. The Lottery's online partner is now Fanatics Sportsbook.
Amendments since launch
Public Act 22-113, effective May 27, 2022, added rules on single-use stored-value instruments and on information from the voluntary self-exclusion process. Public Act 23-54, effective June 26, 2023, rewrote parts of the licensing sections and widened the definition of a sporting event to cover events whose participants may be eligible for compensation. Public Act 24-142, effective June 6, 2024, substantially revised the advertising restrictions, and Public Act 24-151 created the 2% youth sports deposit.
In February 2026 Lamont proposed HB 5038 to bar prediction markets from serving or advertising to anyone under 21. It had a public hearing in the General Law Committee on February 18, 2026, and the legislature's bill page records no later action.
Sports betting court cases in Connecticut
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe v. Connecticut (1990)
The tribe asked the state to negotiate a casino compact on March 30, 1989, and the state wouldn't. Because Connecticut let nonprofits run "Las Vegas nights," the District of Connecticut held on May 15, 1990 that casino games were permitted gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and ordered the state to negotiate. The Second Circuit affirmed on September 4, 1990 (913 F.2d 1024, No. 90-7508).
State of Connecticut v. Zinke (2017 to 2018)
Connecticut and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe sued the Interior Department in Washington, D.C. (No. 17-cv-2564) after it declined to act on procedure amendments tied to the East Windsor casino. MGM Resorts intervened, and on September 29, 2018 the court dismissed the case. Interior didn't approve the amendments until March 15, 2019.
KalshiEX v. Cafferelli
The Department of Consumer Protection sent Kalshi a cease-and-desist letter on December 2, 2025, saying its sports event contracts were unlicensed sports wagering. Kalshi sued the next day in the District of Connecticut (No. 3:25-cv-02016), and on December 8 the court entered the parties' agreement that the state wouldn't enforce against Kalshi until it ruled. Judge Vernon D. Oliver heard argument on February 11, 2026.
He denied a preliminary injunction in an opinion signed August 7 and entered August 10, 2026. The court held that Kalshi's sports contracts aren't swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act and that, even if they were, federal law doesn't preempt Connecticut's gaming laws. "At bottom, they are sports wagers," the opinion says, quoting a Nevada ruling. Kalshi appealed the same day (Second Circuit No. 26-2239). Oliver denied an injunction pending appeal on August 15, and on August 19 Circuit Judge Sarah Merriam denied temporary relief and sent Kalshi's motion to a three-judge panel. On August 20 both sides asked Oliver to stay the district case until 21 days after the Second Circuit rules, and he entered an order on that motion August 21.
Coinbase Financial Markets v. Tong
Coinbase, a futures commission merchant that offers Kalshi's contracts, sued on December 18, 2025 (No. 3:25-cv-02121) on the same theory. Oliver denied its preliminary injunction on August 10, 2026 for the reasons in the Kalshi opinion, and Coinbase appealed (No. 26-2297). On September 3 the Second Circuit refused to consolidate the appeals but ordered the two Connecticut cases and Kalshi's New York appeal (KalshiEX v. Williams, No. 26-1835) heard in tandem, with one panel deciding all three injunction motions. It wouldn't expedite them. The dockets, last updated September 25, show no panel ruling. Oliver stayed the Coinbase district case on August 21 until 21 days after the Second Circuit decides.
United States and CFTC v. Connecticut
The CFTC and the United States sued the state on April 2, 2026 (No. 3:26-cv-00498), arguing that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Connecticut law as applied to federally regulated exchanges. The court let Crypto.com's exchange intervene as a plaintiff on May 27. The two tribes moved to intervene on the state's side on May 26, and Robinhood Derivatives moved to intervene in late June. Neither motion had been decided when we checked the docket, and the court hasn't ruled on the motion to dismiss. The state moved to dismiss on June 3. The CFTC dropped Lamont as a defendant in June and dropped the Gaming Division and its director in July, and on September 11 it moved for a preliminary injunction.
Connecticut v. KalshiEX
On August 26, 2026, the state sued Kalshi in Hartford Superior Court under the gaming law and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, asking for an injunction, disgorgement, restitution and civil penalties. Kalshi removed the case to federal court the same day (No. 3:26-cv-01382), and the state moved to remand on September 8. The case went to Judge Oliver, and all deadlines are stayed until he decides remand. Kalshi's opposition is due September 29.
Underdog Exchange DCM v. Tong
Underdog's exchange and UDM, LLC d/b/a Underdog Predict sued state officials on September 15, 2026 (No. 3:26-cv-01499), attaching the cease-and-desist letter the department sent Underdog Predict. The case was reassigned to Judge Oliver on September 24.
Rulings from other circuits
Only the Second Circuit's decision will bind federal courts in Connecticut. Elsewhere, the Third Circuit sided with Kalshi against New Jersey on April 6, 2026 (KalshiEX v. Flaherty, No. 25-1922), and New Jersey's Supreme Court petition (No. 26-299) was docketed September 8, with Kalshi's response due November 9, 2026. The Ninth Circuit ruled against Kalshi on Nevada's rules on August 28, 2026 in KalshiEX v. Assad (No. 25-7516), and Kalshi sought rehearing en banc on September 9.
Prediction markets and daily fantasy
The December 2, 2025 letters went to Kalshi, Crypto.com and Robinhood. In the week of September 8, 2026, the department sent nine more, to Polymarket, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Robinhood, ProphetX, Novig, Webull, Gemini and Underdog Predict, ordering them to stop offering sports event contracts and to let Connecticut customers withdraw their funds. Novig's letter, dated September 8, went to Ludlow Exchange LLC d/b/a Novig, which the CFTC designated a contract market on June 16, 2026. We found no Novig lawsuit against the state as of September 27. The department also sent nearly 30 subpoenas to 9 gaming service licensees such as PayPal, Sportradar and Genius Sports, 15 news organizations, and app stores and payment processors.
State officials say prediction markets take bets from people under 21 and from people on the self-exclusion list, and offer contracts on Connecticut college teams. Kalshi has offered sports contracts in Connecticut since January 2025, according to the state's complaint.
Daily fantasy is legal at 18 and runs only through the three master licensees, which pay the state 13.75% of gross fantasy receipts.
Help with a gambling problem
The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling runs a 24/7 confidential helpline at 1-888-789-7777. The state's self-exclusion program is at ct.gov/selfexclusion.
Sources
HB 6451 bill history and votes (Public Act 21-23), Connecticut General Assembly
Conn. Gen. Stat. chapter 229b (sections 12-850 to 12-871), sports wagering and fantasy contests
Federal Register: approval of Mashantucket Pequot procedures amendment (September 27, 2021)
Federal Register: approval of Mohegan compact amendment (September 15, 2021)
Federal Register: approval of the Mohegan compact (December 16, 1994)
Federal Register: 2019 Mashantucket Pequot procedures amendment and 1993 MOU
New York Times: Mohegans open Connecticut's second casino (October 13, 1996)
DCP: online sports wagering and iCasino open October 19, 2021
AP: Connecticut online sports betting set to fully begin (October 18, 2021)
Gambling Insider: Sportech confirms full sports betting launch in Connecticut
DCP: licensed sports wagering platforms and retail locations (January 2025)
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe v. Connecticut, 913 F.2d 1024 (2d Cir. 1990)
State of Connecticut v. Zinke, No. 17-cv-2564 (D.D.C. September 29, 2018)
KalshiEX LLC v. Cafferelli, D. Conn. No. 3:25-cv-02016, docket
KalshiEX v. Cafferelli, memorandum and order denying preliminary injunction (August 2026)
KalshiEX LLC v. Cafferelli, Second Circuit No. 26-2239, docket
Coinbase Financial Markets v. Tong, D. Conn. No. 3:25-cv-02121, docket
Coinbase v. Tong, order denying preliminary injunction (August 10, 2026)
Second Circuit order of September 3, 2026 hearing Nos. 26-1835, 26-2239 and 26-2297 in tandem
United States and CFTC v. Connecticut, D. Conn. No. 3:26-cv-00498, docket
State of Connecticut v. KalshiEX LLC, D. Conn. No. 3:26-cv-01382, docket
Connecticut's verified complaint against Kalshi (August 26, 2026)
State v. KalshiEX stipulation on remand schedule (September 17, 2026)
Underdog Exchange DCM v. Tong, D. Conn. No. 3:26-cv-01499, docket
Governor Lamont: nine cease-and-desist orders and subpoenas (September 10, 2026)
DCP cease-and-desist letter to Ludlow Exchange LLC d/b/a Novig (September 8, 2026)
KalshiEX LLC v. Flaherty, Third Circuit No. 25-1922 (April 6, 2026)
KalshiEX v. Assad, Ninth Circuit No. 25-7516 (August 28, 2026)