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August 30, 2023

New XL Center sports betting lounge slated to open within weeks

Michael Puffer | Hartford Business Journal Construction crews last summer worked on the new sports-betting lounge at the XL Center, which debuted in September 2023.
By Michael Puffer

A long-awaited sports bar and sports betting venue at the western edge of Hartford’s XL Center is expected to open within two weeks.

Michael Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority, said he expects a soft, unadvertised opening of the new sports betting venue on Sept. 9 or 10, with a grand opening on Sept. 18.

The 300-person capacity sports betting lounge is part of a broader package of $15 million in upgrades at the XL. It was originally planned to debut for the fall 2022 NFL football season, but supply chain and labor shortage woes pushed the opening back by a year.

“I’m just happy we are finally here,” Freimuth said. “We definitely went through a baptism of fire with the supply chain issue.”

The Connecticut Lottery Corp. will run the sports betting side of operations, dividing profits with CRDA, which will manage the sports bar.

Freimuth said he doesn’t yet have an estimate as to how much revenue is expected to come from sports betting. The CRDA will have access to all of the net profits from betting for use operating, maintaining and upgrading the XL Center.

The sports betting venue comes with benefits beyond a new stream of revenue, however.

RENDERINGS | CONTRIBUTED
A rendering showing a sports betting lounge now under construction.

The lounge served as the impetus for a facelift on a drab side of the XL Center that previously resembled a massive concrete bunker. A raised glass wall now faces the street, forming one wall of a modern sports bar and restaurant incorporated in a betting lounge on the upper deck of the arena. The facility offers 80 screens to follow games. This is a new hospitality amenity facing the sluggish Allyn Street entertainment corridor.

Once a hotbed of city nightlife, the Allyn Street area has been relatively quiet in recent years. There have been tentative signs of life lately, with several operators declaring plans to open restaurants in the area, adding to a handful already in operation.

Freimuth said the sports lounge will operate seven days a week, generally from morning until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. The schedule could vary depending if a big game runs later, he said.

Patrons can visit to enjoy the sports bar whether they intend to bet or not, and people can bet without buying food or beverage, said Connecticut Lottery spokesman Christopher Davis.

“Obviously we are excited about the fact it is opening during the football season,” Davis said, noting baseball teams are heading into playoffs and NHL hockey and NBA basketball will begin in a little more than a month.

Patrons will be able to place bets on a vast array of sports, except for Jai Alia and horse racing, as those are permitted in other venues under another license. Betting on Connecticut-based college sports teams is also off the table, under the 2021 state legislation that authorized the creation of 15 sports betting lounges in Connecticut.

The lounge at the XL will be Connecticut’s 10th and satisfy a condition of the 2021 legislation requiring two of the locations be set aside for Hartford and Bridgeport, Davis noted. An announcement on a Bridgeport location is expected within weeks, Davis said. 

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