CRDA moves slowly as it explores sports betting at XL Center

HBJ Photos | Joe Cooper The XL Center in downtown Hartford.

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By Terry Corcoran

The entity that operates the XL Center in Hartford is moving slowly as it explores the possibility of establishing a gaming facility there.

The Capital Region Development Authority is in discussions with the Connecticut Lottery Corp. on bringing gaming to the center, CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said at a Sept. 10 meeting of the authority’s venue committee.

“It’s not like there’s a sports betting parlor that’s going to fly from the sky and land as a tenant in the XL,” Freimuth said. “It just isn’t going to happen that easily. It’s likely that we’re going to have to initiate it.”

If the authority decides on a sports-themed restaurant with betting, it can’t be a money loser, Freimuth said.

“We’ve got to run it in the black,” he said. “And it’s going to have to survive on a simple (profit and loss). That’s the trick we’re up against.”

It makes the most sense for Spectra, the company that operates the XL Center, to run a restaurant featuring sports gaming because the company has necessary health and liquor licences, personnel and an organizational relationship with the center, Freimuth said.

“I’ve asked Spectra to put together a prospectus on how they would approach this, working with us as well as Connecticut Lottery, to expand or create a sports betting operation within the XL facility,” he said.

Another possibility is setting up gaming kiosks throughout the center for people to wager during sporting events.

“The lottery folks are working with us and we’ll see where it goes,” Freimuth said.

“Spectra is interested. We just don’t know if it makes sense yet.”

The venue committee’s discussion was held one day after Gov. Ned Lamont announced that sports gaming in Connecticut could start next month. The state’s two casinos will be allowed to operate sportsbooks under a new law Lamont signed in May.

As part of the state’s negotiations with the Indian tribes that run the casinos in eastern Connecticut, 15 sports betting parlors will be established throughout the state, including in Hartford and Bridgeport. The assumption has been that the XL Center would make the most sense in Hartford.

“Bridgeport and Hartford were specifically called out in the legislation and in the negotiations,” state Economic Development Commissioner David Lehman said. “This was a heavily negotiated point.”