Published December 16. 2021 6:28PM | Updated December 16. 2021 7:15PM
By Brian Hallenbeck Day staff writer
Online casino gaming and sports betting generated $4.2 million for the state in November, the first full month the new forms of gambling were available, data posted Thursday by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection show.
As expected, most of the new revenue — $2.5 million, or 59% — came from the online gaming platforms Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun rolled out in October, enabling patrons to play virtual versions of casino games, including slots, on computers, tablets and handheld devices.
Online sports betting platforms operated by the casinos and by the Connecticut Lottery Corp. combined to generate $1.6 million in payments to the state in November, while the lottery’s nine retail sports betting locations anted up another $112,314.
In October, online casino gaming generated nearly $1.2 million for the state while sports wagering generated $513,000.
Foxwoods’ online casino gaming site, operated by DraftKings, handled $416.0 million in wagers in November and paid out $405.4 million in winnings. After subtracting canceled wagers and 25% of the amount it spent on promotional discounts and coupons, the casino was left with gross gaming revenue of $7.9 million. That amount was subject to an 18% tax on online gaming revenues, as spelled out in the Connecticut gaming-expansion law enacted in May.
Foxwoods’ online casino gaming payment to the state exceeded $1.4 million.
Mohegan Sun, in partnership with FanDuel, handled $275.2 million in online casino wagers last month, paid patrons $267.4 million in winnings and had gross revenue of $5.9 million, of which it paid the state $1.1 million.
As for online sports betting, Mohegan Sun took in $59.0 million in wagers and paid patrons $50.8 million in winnings. After paying federal excise tax and promotional expenses, Mohegan Sun’s gross revenue was $6.0 million, which was subject to Connecticut’s 13.75% tax on sports betting revenue. That resulted in a payment to the state of $819,799.
Foxwoods handled $60.0 million in online sports wagers and paid patrons $52.5 million in winnings. Its gross revenue of $5.1 million resulted in a $703,665 payment to the state.
The lottery, which took in $8.5 million in online sports wagers and paid patrons $7.7 million in winnings, remitted $76,358 to the state. “
“We remain exceptionally encouraged by our digital gaming performance,” said Ray Pineault, president and chief executive officer of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, the corporate entity that includes Mohegan Sun. “Our results from November show the continued opportunity for growth in this area of our organization.”
Online casino gaming and online sports betting were not expected to provide the casinos with as much gaming revenue as slot machines do. However, the new forms of gambling were seen as crucial to the casinos’ ability to stay competitive with casinos in other states. Legal retail and/or sports betting is offered in 30 states and Washington, D.C., including all the northeastern states except Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine, according to the American Gaming Association. Seven states have legalized online casino and/or poker.
On Wednesday, the casinos released their slots reports for November. Mohegan Sun announced it kept $40.7 million in slots revenue after paying out prizes and forwarded the required 25%, or $10.2 million, of it to the state. Foxwoods kept $28.2 million and sent more than $7 million of it to the state.
In September, Gov. Ned Lamont said he expected online casino gaming and sports betting to generate $100 million annually for the state within four to five years.
Revenue the casinos’ retail sportsbooks generate is not taxed and is not reported monthly.
