Washington, D.C. hoped a sports betting bill would go live in time for the 2019 NFL season, something that now seems like eons in the past.
The D.C. Council awarded a no-bid contract to gaming management company Intralot last July, triggering a lawsuit over the process. The suit claimed the $215 million contract violated federal law because D.C. officials awarded it without competitive bidding.
Then came the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down nearly all sports.
But on May 28, the city’s mobile sports gambling platform, GambetDC, went live, according to the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming. An app will accept bets later this month.
Still, problems exist, according to the Washington Post. Odds offered are terrible compared with other mobile sportsbooks around the country. Based on the Eagles-Redskins season opener, you would save approximately 61 percent of the cost you would have to pay by betting the game on DraftKings rather than on the D.C. Lottery site.
GambetDC also has experienced technical glitches. While trying to register for the site on a laptop, a test person encountered a recurring error involving the verification of his location within the city limits. Plus, registration requires the user to upload a photo of government-issued identification, an invasive step not seen at places such as DraftKings or FanDuel.
When one of the writers placed a tiny wager on Martin Truex Jr. to win a NASCAR race in Charlotte, he received a “waiting for geolocation….” notice, even though he had successfully downloaded the proper geolocation app and proved his D.C. residency.
A number of people said the geolocation was unable to properly pinpoint their locations within the city’s borders. GeoComply, the company providing geolocation services, indicated city areas where sports’ betting is banned, including federal property and locations around stadiums where team owners will have their own site.
But GeoComply noted that people “in close proximity” to those areas also might not be allowed to bet.
GambetDC’s website said “less than a half a mile from the District’s border … may be blocked from play.”
Nicole Jordan, director of marketing and communications for the D.C. Lottery, said Washington faces some of the “most complicated location-based restrictions” because of its status as the nation’s capital, because it has a large amount of federal land and because the city has carved out two-block areas around the stadiums.
“As we get more information from users in the upcoming weeks the buffer zones, particularly around the D.C. borders, will gradually begin to be reduced and be refined” over the next few weeks, Jordan said.
