Mohegan, Kambi Amend Deal; Tribe Can Seek Betting Partner

Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment and Kambi Group will end their sports betting supplier agreement, it was announced Thursday. The move comes just over a month after Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation and compacts legalizing sports betting in the state.

The new amendment to their agreement ensures Kambi will receive expected revenue for its five-year term ending in 2024, following its initial agreement that was signed in 2019, according to a news release.

The move announced Thursday allows Mohegan Gaming to collaborate with other sports betting platforms to launch on-property and online sports betting in Connecticut. On Wednesday, Mohegan announced that it had created a new division, Mohegan Digital, to take advantage of legal online casinos and sports betting.

The Mohegan Sun announced the partnership with Kambi in March 2019. At the time, sports betting in Connecticut wasn’t legal, but it gave the Mohegan Tribe a leading sports betting operator for its flagship physical property as well as a possible online wagering site.

The Mohegan Sun has partnered with FanDuel Daily Fantasy since 2016 to offer co-branded contests. It’s possible they could extend that deal to include sports betting.

“As we have seen first-hand in Pennsylvania, Kambi provides a great product and is therefore one we look forward to potentially collaborating with in new market opportunities,” Aviram Alroy, vice president of product for Mohegan Digital, said in the release Thursday.

However, both companies are engaged in discussions for future sports betting alliances in other states where Mohegan has secured market access, the release said.

“While we had been looking forward to supporting Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment to become a sports betting leader in the Connecticut casino market, the amicable discussions between both parties have found a positive conclusion, with Mohegan respecting Kambi's financial interests for the duration of the original agreement,” Kristian Nylén, CEO and co-founder of Kambi, said in the release.

What’s Next in Connecticut?

The Connecticut Lottery Commission is expected to announce preliminary notice of its sportsbook operator on July 6, according to the updated timeline. The lottery received 15 requests for qualifications before an April 23 deadline, and has been vetting the applicants since.

Sports betting is expected to launch in the fall. On May 27, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed sports betting into law.

The legislation (HB 6451), which received strong bipartisan support in both chambers of the state General Assembly, comes as a result of an agreement the Lamont administration reached earlier this year with the Mohegan Tribe and Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, allowing both and the Connecticut Lottery to offer online gaming and sports wagering.

DraftKings, Kambi Separation

Last July, DraftKings and Kambi announced they were ending their partnership by the end of September 2021 as DraftKings moves to a platform powered by SBTech. The two companies said they would “mutually support and cooperate” on the planned migration of DraftKings to the SBTech sports betting and iGaming platform by the end of the third quarter 2021.

DraftKings completed its $3.3 billion merger with SBTech and Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. on April 23 and began trading the next day on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “DKNG.”

In December 2020, DraftKings Sportsbook and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation entered into an agreement for online sports betting access in Connecticut.