After years of using GambetDC, Washington D.C. sports bettors will have widespread online access to multiple sports betting apps beginning Monday.
BetMGM shared Wednesday that it will launch its betting app across the District — not just in a two-block radius around its retail sportsbook at Nationals Park — on Monday at noon ET. BetMGM plans to host a celebration at Nats Park on Monday morning, which will include live music performances.
Caesars Sportsbook, which operates a retail sportsbook at Capital One Arena, confirmed with Sports Handle that it also plans to go live Monday across Washington D.C.
The announcement comes after D.C. councilmember Kenyan McDuffie successfully lobbied to change Washington D.C.’s sports betting market through the budget. McDuffie wanted to open up competition, shifting from what’s essentially a monopoly (FanDuel holds the monopoly after taking over for GambetDC as an Intralot subcontractor) to an open online marketplace with numerous operators.
FanDuel previously signaled its intent to drop its partnership with the lottery and Intralot should the open marketplace gain approval. FanDuel currently pays the District a 40% tax rate, but operators pay a 20% tax under McDuffie’s bill.
Small businesses with retail kiosks are still guaranteed to have kiosks provided by one of the District’s sports betting operators even if FanDuel moves away from the Intralot partnership.
Other to Join?
Fanatics Sportsbook and DraftKings are among the operators who lobbied the Washington D.C. Council for online sports betting access earlier this year. Each operator is expected to make a push for access.
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According to the language in McDuffie’s bill, the operators need to partner with one of the District’s sports franchises to gain access. An operator will also need to be vetted by the lottery before being allowed to go live.
BetMGM and Caesars already went through regulatory hurdles with the lottery to launch, making it a quick and easy process to give the operators increased mobile access.
