Legal sports betting services could go live in the District of Columbia before the start of the new NFL season
The D.C. Council passed on Tuesday a legislation that authorizes the provision of sports betting services and makes D.C. Lottery’s vendor, Intralot, the exclusive provider of mobile betting in Washington, D.C.
A proposal for the legalization of sports betting in the US capital emerged last year, following the US Supreme Court’s strikedown of a long-standing federal ban on wagering. Bill 23-25, the piece that the Council voted to approve yesterday, quickly gained momentum, although it contained several controversial issues.
Generally speaking, the piece of legislation aims to speed up the launch of sports gambling services in D.C. by awarding the mobile wagering concession to Intralot, the vendor that works with the local Lottery. In other words, the bill favors a monopolistic framework over putting out a request for proposals and carrying out an extensive process for awarding licenses to multiple interested operators.
While the legislation gained the necessary majority in the Council, there were still lawmakers who were vocally opposed to the proposed monopoly system. At-Large Council Member David Grosso was among the D.C. legislators to vote against the proposed bill, saying that awarding Intralot the sports betting contract was not “an emergency”, but rather a “giveaway.”
The Council member further noted that the lottery vendor had recently contributed funds to a Council member campaign, and hinted that this might explain why it has been selected as the preferred and sole winner of the betting contract.
D.C. to Lose Millions If It Puts Out an RFP
While some legislators, Mr. Grosso included, pointed out that a request for proposals and issuing multiple betting licenses to interested parties could be the right way of conducting sports betting in D.C., others said that a RFP would only delay the launch of wagering services by at least 27 months.
According to D.C. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DeWitt, the city could lose more than $60 million in tax revenue if legislators chose to put out an RFP.
The District is trying to outrace neighboring Virginia and Maryland and become the first jurisdiction to go live with sports betting in that region. However, despite an initial push, wagering has not been given much consideration in Virginia since the beginning of the year, while Maryland may have to put the sports betting legalization issue on the 2020 ballot. Maryland lawmakers introduced a bill that aims to circumvent the referendum portion of the legalization push, but the piece is yet to be debated.
With yesterday’s vote, D.C. is now expected to roll out mobile betting ahead of the new NFL season. However, the sports betting bill still needs to be signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser and to get approved by the Congress. Mayor Bowser previously indicated that she supported the legalization of wagering.
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