Football punters should have the chance to legally place bet for this weekend’s NFL games at the state’s two Native American-owned casinos, Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday.

The needed approval of the U.S. Department of the Interior last Thursday came too late for legal wagering for the kickoff of the NFL season. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs had to first OK necessary changes to the state gambling compacts with Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe, the state’s two federally recognized tribes.

Lamont in Rocky Hill on Monday morning stated that the sports books at the Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mohegan Sun should be ready to open for walk-up business in a matter of days.