Move with caution on sports gaming

The issue: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting, a widespread — largely illicit — practice that generates an estimated $150 billion in action every year. The Connecticut state legislature, before going out of session last week, had prepared legislation on the topic, should the court have issued its ruling earlier.

The court’s ruling was not an endorsement of gambling, but struck down a 1992 federal law that essentially banned betting in most states. That law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, was unconstitutional, the court ruled. So now, the gates are open.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he’s prepared to call the legislature back into session to discuss the issue. We are not fans of gambling as a revenue stream the state should enthusiastically embrace.

What we wrote: “If it becomes acceptable to gamble on the outcome of defined sports, why not bet the odds on, say, political outcomes as well? For that matter, what’s the harm in letting youth sports take a piece of the action?

... It’s another case where Connecticut income would come at the expense of residents.

The lure of the coin can be hypnotic, leading lawmakers to stray from the harder work of cutting spending and keeping employee benefits in check.

The laws needed to shield a state’s integrity would range from creating an appropriate licensing protocol to defining the range of sports and setting a cutoff age for gamblers.

There’s also that niggling matter of trying to help the addicts, like a bar cutting off an alcoholic with car keys.” Editorial, April 11, 2018

Where it stands: While we would rather see the legislature tackle some of the massive problems facing Connecticut — billion dollar budget deficits, unfunded pension liabilities, to name a few — we also recognize that increased gambling, be it in the form of new casinos or a new structure for legalized sports betting, is coming.

A complication that already has arisen is the contention from Connecticut’s two Native American tribes that legalizing sports betting would violate the contract the tribes have with the state. That, they say, would mean the end of the tribes’ handing over to the state 25 percent of slot machine handle from Foxwoods Resort Casino, operated by the Mashantucket Pequots, and the Mohegan Sun, operated by the Mohegan tribe.

Those payments totaled some $270 million in 2017, a drop, for sure, from the peak of $430.5 million in 2007, but a significant sum nonetheless. Connecticut House Majority Leader Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, said legalized sports betting could bring the state $30 million to $50 million annually, hardly a king’s ransom.

Legislators should think long and hard about the return on investment here. If they are going to go this route, ironclad safeguards have to exist to protect the system.

Legislators should think long and hard about the return on investment here. If they are going to go this route, ironclad safeguards have to exist to protect the system.