The chairman of the lottery’s board and former executive at ESPN and NBCSports Rob Simmelkjaer said sports betting at the XL Center would be part of a larger venue. Legislative leaders say the first betting could begin as early as the start of the NFL season on Sept. The lottery, which will control the location of 15 sports betting venues in Connecticut under the new sports and online gambling law, said i t expects to first look to smaller locations in the Hartford area to offer sports gambling sooner to the betting public. is zeroing in on downtown Hartford’s XL Center as the spot for a major sports betting venue that can boost the renovation of the aging arena. Those other sites are now operated by Sportech. The lottery said it expects to look at smaller locations in the area to offer sports gambling to the betting public sooner.
