The DC Lottery, which oversees sports betting in the District of Columbia, said sports betting regulations could be released in June, followed by the issuance of licenses. Legal sports betting could begin in September.
However, the launch of the lottery’s app is running behind schedule and is not expected to be available until January 2021—well beyond the start of the National Football League season. The delay is worrying sports bettors but also will impact the District’s fiscal 2020 budget which will begin in October. That’s because according to the projected budget, the sports betting app accounts for $84.1 million of the expected $91.7 million in sports betting revenue for FY2020.
The committee on finance and revenue has been negotiating with the app’s supplier, Intralot, while that company has been struggling financially. In fact the committee recently urged the DC Council to search for a new supplier. Council member Jack Evans wrote in the budget report, “The committee encourages the Lottery to continuously monitor whether to pivot to a competitive mobile marketplace, especially considering the project start of private sports wagering in September 2019 and the delayed timeline for the Lottery offering.”
Even without an app, sports betting will be available in DC later this year.
The first $200,000 of sports betting tax revenue will go toward problem gambling services and the rest will be divided between neighborhood safety programs and free child care.
