The University of Connecticut is hoping its success in basketball will carry over to Congress.
Specifically, the school is seeking a $100 million bond for improvements to Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, home of the men's and women's basketball teams on campus.
“If I had to guess, I think it would give us some influence over the Legislature, and I think it would probably put us in a better position to attract private funding,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in response to a question. Stated. About Wednesday's request.
The request is part of UConn's hope to secure $650 million in additional bond funding over the next five years, with much of the funding intended to continue construction on the campus.
Lawmakers on both sides say they support the plan.
“I don't want anyone to think that if we don't win a national title, the state is going to abandon UW, because that's not going to happen,” said Rep. Matt Ritter, D-House Speaker.
Other projects in the plan include a new life sciences building and renovations to upgrade existing buildings.
Gampel's $100 million is roughly equal to the $107 bond approved by lawmakers for updates to Hartford's XL Center.
However, the funding has also reignited the debate about where UConn should play its home games.
“We can't drag their program down to get them to support XL Center,” said Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-Minority Leader.
Separately, lawmakers are considering changing state law to allow fans to bet on UW and other college teams in Connecticut.
State law currently prohibits betting on local college teams, except for certain promotions for teams that win tournaments.
The sweeping sports betting legislation includes changes that would allow betting on the outcome of those teams' games, including by how much they need to win.
The bill still does not allow betting on local individual player statistics, also known as proposition bets or prop bets.
“I suspect they will allow betting on college cons for popularization purposes,” Ritter said, noting that residents can already make the same bets by traveling to neighboring states. .
UW remains neutral on this bill. The Connecticut State University System said it is still considering the bill.
Quinnipiac declined to comment, and Yale University did not respond to requests for comment.
Others oppose this change.
“Governor Ned Lamont is one of the biggest fans of the Yukon Huskies, but Connecticut's higher education leaders agree that residents here should not bet on Yukon games.” said Julia Bergman, a spokeswoman for the governor.
The NCAA is asking states that allow sports betting to ban prop betting after several high-profile incidents.
In February, the NCAA handed former University of Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon a 15-year show cause penalty (effectively a suspension) for his involvement in a gambling scandal.
And in March, gambling regulators issued a warning to sportsbooks after suspicious activity involving a Temple University men's basketball game.
“We really want to make sure that the proper guardrails are in place before we continue with this expansion,” said Candelora, also an opponent.
But Ritter said safety measures are in place. He noted that the suspicious bets in these high-profile cases were placed at legitimate sportsbooks and were brought to the attention of watchdogs.
