Connecticut Daily Fantasy Sports Sites

Unfortunately, the Connecticut daily fantasy sports market leaves few options for players. Pick’em and parlay-style fantasy sports sites like PrizePicks, ParlayPlay, and Boom Fantasy do not accept Connecticut customers due to difficulty complying with state DFS regulations.

The good news is that the nation’s best daily fantasy sports site (DraftKings) is active and available in Connecticut to fans 18 and older.

FanDuel DFS served the Connecticut market until February 2022 but left “due to a change in state regulations.” In a follow-up statement, FanDuel said it aimed to return to Connecticut in time for the NFL season, but that never happened, and FanDuel still hasn’t relaunched its Connecticut DFS contests. However, FanDuel Sportsbook remains a licensed Connecticut sports betting operator.

Connecticut Fantasy Sports Law

and adopted by the Department of Consumer Protection Gaming Division regulate daily fantasy sports in Connecticut.

Connecticut’s various rules and regulations go into exquisite detail outlining how licensed DFS operators must conduct fantasy contests, covering everything from age verification technology to recordkeeping requirements.

The noteworthiest regulations require Connecticut daily fantasy sports sites to:

• Ensure customers are 18 or older
• Pay a 13.75% tax on gross receipts
• Pay a $250,000 initial licensing fee
• Pay an annual $100,000 renewal fee
• Not directly advertise to anyone under 18
• Conduct annual independent audits
• Prevent the sharing of inside information that could impact DFS contests
• Create an onboarding process for new users to explain how to play DFS and how to identify highly experienced competitors
• Use symbols to identify all highly experienced players to everyone else
• Maintain records of all DFS contests, payouts, point totals, customers’ cash winnings, and more
• Maintain voluntary self-exclusion programs

How Connecticut Legalized Daily Fantasy Sports

Connecticut legalized fantasy sports in 2021, but DFS sites operated for years beforehand because existing laws did not ban fantasy sports contests. Lawmakers had considered legalizing and regulating daily fantasy sports since 2017, but all legalization efforts ran into opposition over concerns they would interfere with state-tribal gaming compacts.

Even so, Former Governor Dannel Malloy signed a budget bill in 2017 that included provisions to legalize and regulate Connecticut daily fantasy sports contests.

The sprawling 881-page, two-year budget sought to avoid financial disaster for Connecticut with measures designed to keep Hartford out of bankruptcy, deal with a $3.5 billion deficit, and more. In addition to boosting taxes by nearly $500 million per year, the budget included provisions to legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports in Connecticut.

Section 649 in  dealt with daily fantasy sports and was similar to legalization measures passed in other states. In addition, it called on the Commissioner of Consumer Protection to adopt regulations safeguarding consumers and establish a licensing process for DFS operators.

The budget ordered the Department of Consumer Protection to finalize all additional regulations by July 2018. However, it would still be three more years before the state could implement as it renegotiated its gaming compacts with the tribes – negotiations that also covered sports betting in Connecticut.

In addition, the DFS provisions established a basic framework for legalization but did not immediately take effect. The section in the budget pertaining to Connecticut fantasy sports made it clear that the state would need to negotiate with the tribes before it could implement the new DFS regulations. During that interval, many fantasy sports operators continued offering their services in Connecticut.

The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, operators of the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos, had longstanding agreements with the state for exclusive rights to operate slot machines and other forms of gaming. In return, the tribes contribute 25% of their gross slots revenue to the state each month.

Bills seeking the legalize daily fantasy sports ran into the same issue in previous years. Back then, state Attorney General George Jepsen warned lawmakers that passing legislation friendly to DFS would threaten those tribal contributions to the state. With minimum contributions of $100 million per year from the Mashantucket Pequot tribe alone, lawmakers understandably approached the issue cautiously.

Progress stalled for a while, but Connecticut legalized sports wagering and implemented the DFS regulations simultaneously in 2021 through negotiations with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and the Mohegan Tribe.

However, a “tethering” provision in the amended gaming compacts requires DFS operators to partner with one of the state’s two casinos or the state lottery. As a result, smaller DFS operators find themselves locked out of the market.

For instance, Yahoo Fantasy announced in July 2021 that it would stop accepting Connecticut customers, effective immediately. Yahoo explained why it left Connecticut in :

The tethering requirement makes operating in Connecticut economically unviable for Yahoo and smaller fantasy operators and startups.

Connecticut Daily Fantasy Sports FAQ