At the same hearing, Lottery and Gaming Bureau Director Frank Suarez said the agency is working with Intralot, the Greek company that won a five-year no-bid contract from the D.C. Council in 2019 to develop GambetDC. announced that it is exploring further strategies. A popular gambling provider has proposed replacing the platform and immediately improving the city's financial returns. Last week, as part of that plan, the lottery office announced that FanDuel would take over this spring, with guarantees and projections that it would bring in more revenue.
While the FanDuel solution could address pressing concerns about the GambetDC app, McDuffie said it still doesn't allow gamblers in urban areas to choose the platform as they do in many states. He said the city's three “Class A” gambling establishments based at designated sports venues (Fanduel at Audi Field, Caesars Sportsbook at Capital One Arena, and BetMGM at Nationals Park) He said it could also disrupt businesses in the district that have invested in on-site retail sportsbooks, including . .
Capital One Arena and Nationals Park sportsbooks offer mobile platforms limited to a two-block radius of the facility. If approved, McDuffie's bill would remove geographic restrictions for these major sportsbooks and allow them to offer mobile platforms throughout the city, with some exceptions. Perhaps more notably, the bill would also create a new type of mobile sports betting license available to sports teams playing in venues using existing sportsbooks. The Washington Nationals, Wizards, Capitals, Spirit and D.C. United will be eligible immediately, McDuffie's office said.
With the new license in hand and approval from the Lottery Office, these teams will be able to form unique partnerships with the mobile betting platform of their choice. McDuffie said the new mobile license would be more expensive and taxed at a higher rate than the two existing retail-based licenses, according to his proposal, potentially increasing options for bettors quickly. I think there is.
His office believes the special license will also serve as an incentive for D.C. sports teams to remain in the district and continue to invest in the city, a key element following owners of the Wizards and Capitals. Ted Leonsis announced his intention to relocate in December. Teams from Capital One Arena to Northern Virginia.This law is much more complex than the law 2022 The bill, introduced by several lawmakers, would take a broader approach to increasing mobile options while also ending Intralot's contract when it ends. The bill was not introduced before the end of the council's two-year legislative period.
But McDuffie said the proposal likely would have come at the expense of the city's sportsbook retailers.
“Changing a broken system is frankly more complicated than starting sports betting from scratch,” McDuffie said. “But I support, and I think others would agree with, the general idea that there needs to be more competition in the city's sports betting program. And that's what consumers want. ”
The bill also reinstates an effort to dedicate $300,000 in annual sports betting revenue to gambling addiction prevention, treatment, and research efforts, as well as $1 million annually in new funding to enhance out-of-school programming. The funds will be invested in the Youth Extracurricular Investment Fund.
McDuffie, who is the sole sponsor of the bill and chairs the Business Committee, said he expects some of the details will emerge as the bill moves through the council. In addition to McDuffie's bill, the council will soon have to consider whether to extend Intralot's contract, which expires in mid-July.
At a January hearing, Suarez said the agency would likely seek a contract extension with Intralot to give the FanDuel project more time, a move McDuffie said he did not support.
Intralot's plans to introduce FanDuel “fix some of the glaring operational gaps with the GambetDC app, but address other key concerns, such as broader competitive options for consumers. It’s not being addressed,” McDuffie said.of [Office of Lottery and Gaming] Consumers and residents across the District of Columbia have waited years to take these steps, even though they say the program is broken. I am working on the bill because the systems and programs they have put in place are simply not working. ”
