Sports wagering is coming to Washington, D.C. There are five categories of licenses associated with sports wagering in the District of Columbia: operator, management services provider, supplier, occupational and lottery-operated.
“The legislation that the D.C. Council passed at the end of last year legalizing sports wagering in the District of Columbia put forth a unique model for licensing and offering the newly available gaming category. With no casinos or racetracks within the District and no pre-existing framework for regulating gaming outside of lottery and charitable games, the Council thought outside of the box, or more aptly put, outside of the casino model, in order for the city to capitalize on sports wagering. The Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act of 2018 created a model that allowed for privately-operated sportsbooks to be licensed as well as for the DC Lottery to expand its portfolio to include single-game sports wagering by operating its own mobile application and network of retail sportsbook locations,” said DC Lottery Executive Director Beth Bresnahan.
“Private sportsbook operators will be licensed and regulated by the Office of Lottery and Gaming. These licensees, which will likely operate at the city’s major sports arenas and smaller venues such as bars, restaurants and hotels, will be responsible for operating and managing their own books and procuring their own equipment and wagering platforms. The DC Lottery brand and our gaming products will not be part of the sports wagering offerings at these licensed locations,” explained Bresnahan.
“We (the Office of Lottery and Gaming) filed proposed regulations governing the private-operated sportsbooks in June and received feedback, largely from the operating community, during the 30-day public comment period. Much of this feedback has been incorporated into the 90-plus-pages of regulations. We anticipate filing and adopting the final regulations before the end of this month (August) and opening the licensing process soon after Labor Day,” said Bresnahan.
“As far as the sports wagering that will be operated by the DC Lottery, our anticipated launch date for the District-wide mobile app and internet-based wagering is January 2020 which we are extremely excited about. We are working with our gaming system vendor INTRALOT to develop and customize the platform for our market which will include a full complement of game events and of betting types. We plan to roll out sports wagering at retail locations later in the year as we will first be upgrading equipment and technology to support this new game category as well as other enhanced offerings. With the addition of sports wagering to the DC Lottery’s portfolio, it is our goal to expand our retailer base to attract more bars, restaurants and social settings,” ended Bresnahan.
The Office of Lottery and Gaming, through the DC Lottery, will also offer a mobile sports wagering application that will be available citywide (with the exception of areas of the District where gambling is prohibited), a web-based wagering platform and will license existing and new DC Lottery retailers to offer the DC Lottery’s sports wagering products via kiosks and terminals installed at their business locations.