Bridgeport’s gamble on sports wagering is paying off.

A little more than a year after it opened, the sportsbook at Total Mortgage Arena is one of the state’s most profitable, according to new sales figures from the Connecticut Lottery.

But it’s a far cry from the gambling vision the Park City bet on for decades.

At noon on Friday, most people are taking their lunch break. But Clinton Cox is hard at work – placing his bets on the day’s games.

“I’m going with the Yankees, for sure,” he said. “I like Boston.”

Cox knows his way around the Fanatics Sportsbook, located right by the entrance to Total Mortgage Arena.

“Pretty much I’m a regular,” he said with a chuckle.

Cox is not alone.

Bridgeport is one of 11 sportsbooks operated by the Connecticut Lottery. But it’s already their fourth busiest location, despite just opening in March 2024.

The site took in $830,000 last month, according to lottery officials. Sales have grown 163% since opening day.

Bridgeport actually saw twice as much revenue as the XL Center in Hartford, which netted $355,000 in April – even though that location opened months earlier and is much larger. Bridgeport also beat out Fanatics sportsbooks in Windsor Locks and New Haven, which made $600,000 and $730,000, respectively.

Bobby V’s Restaurant and Sports Bar in Stamford is the lottery’s most popular location by far, netting $1.7 million in wagers last month.

“To sit here a year later and see people coming and going on a random Friday in April – doing their business, interacting with the staff, enjoying the facilities – it feels really good,” said Andrew Walter, the Connecticut Lottery’s sports betting director.

Walter thinks Bridgeport’s success is a combination of prime location – right off Interstate 95 and walking distance to the downtown area – as well as the social aspect.

“You’ll hear customers on the kiosks and they’ll say things like, ‘Do you think Patrick Mahomes is going to go over on passing yards tonight?” he said. “You know, they talk back and forth.”

Despite its success, the small sportsbook is a not exactly what Bridgeport envisioned for gaming.

For decades, the Park City’s bid to lure a casino came up snake eyes. The 1990s featured a failed partnership with Donald Trump to build a casino and theme park along the waterfront. Thirty years later, a push to build an MGM casino also failed.

So when state lawmakers legalized sports betting in 2021, they required the Connecticut Lottery to open physical locations in Bridgeport and Hartford. After two years of delays, officials picked the site at Total Mortgage Arena, where the minor league Bridgeport Islanders play.

“We opened up, I want to say, right around the men’s national championship last year,” Walter said.

Cox is surprised, but pleased, that Bridgeport is one of the lottery’s top performers.

“Shocker,” he said. “But it wouldn't because, at the same time, you've got a lot of people that come here that are regulars too that bet on a regular basis.”

In-person sports betting is also available at Connecticut's two tribal casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.

But you don't have to leave home. Both casinos, as well as the lottery, offer smartphone apps to place wagers anywhere in Connecticut.