Rodney Butler is the jack-of-all-trades executive for Foxwoods Resort Casino, which has been at the center of a contentious debate over who should have rights to sports betting and internet gambling in Connecticut.
In 2018, Butler, the affable chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, stepped in as Foxwoods’ interim CEO after the sudden death of Felix Rappaport.
The former UConn football player turned casino executive in recent years has been intimately involved in negotiating a wide-ranging gambling agreement with former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration as gaming competition heats up across the region.
In March, Butler and Lamont were at odds over the governor’s support of a sports betting bill that would allow the CT Lottery Corp. and another vendor — in addition to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun — to participate in bookmaking.
The legislative session ended early this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, so the bill died but the issue won’t be going away for long.