Gambling Expert Not Optimistic for Success of Sports Gambling in Connecticut

Declan Hill, a University of New Haven associate professor of investigations and a leading expert on match-fixing, says the value the state puts on high-level amateur sports and its lack of infrastructure for sports betting could prove to be barriers.

The belief of many powerbrokers in Connecticut is that it is a matter of when, not if, Connecticut legalizes sport betting.

Declan Hill, a University of New Haven associate professor of investigations and one of the world’s foremost experts on match-fixing, is not as confident, though, about the impact that legalizing sports betting will have on the state’s economy.

In an interview with the Washington, D.C.-based Gambling Compliance, the leading provider of independent business intelligence for the global gaming community, he described wagering in Connecticut as "a tricky political football" because of the state’s agreements with the tribes that run the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos.

And that isn’t the only issue.

"Connecticut also values high-level amateur sports and there are a number of state-level voices who are afraid of the effect on amateur sports," Hill said.

An award-winning journalist, he is the author of two books on sports corruption, "The Insiders' Guide to Match Fixing in Football" and "The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime." His books have been the catalyst for more than 30 major European police investigations.

Hill told the Gambling Compliance that Connecticut also lacks the infrastructure for sports betting.

"There is lots of energy but the kind of expertise and knowledge that is common in Europe or the United Kingdom is not here." Declan Hill, D.Phil., Associate Professor

Despite the overwhelming appetite for legalizing sports gambling in Connecticut, Hill believes it won’t happen until after Election Day in November.

"Snowballs in hell have a better chance than getting sports betting before the November election," he said.