The vote of the District of Columbia Council to award a no-bid contract to Greek lottery supplier Intralot to run sports betting continued to generate controversy last week, including revelations of close ties and nepotism involving D.C. officials.
The D.C. Council voted to grant Intralot, the current contracted operator of the D.C. Lottery, a $3 million contract to operate sports betting without going through the standard process of releasing a request for proposals.
The vote came six months after D.C. passed a law authorizing sports betting. The normal RFP process takes around three years, but would give competitors including IGT and Scientific Games—both of which operate lotteries around the world and have adapted their businesses to offer top sports-betting platforms—to vie for the contract.
According to Legal Sports Report, the 7-5 vote on the no-bid contract may have been prompted by a study completed by Spectrum Gaming Group outlining the advantages of implementing sports betting without waiting for the RFP process. The report found that gearing up sports betting now would result in twice as many jobs and twice the business revenue compared to waiting until 2022.
However, increased scrutiny over the contract has unleashed a mountain of speculation concerning D.C. government officials and their ties to the local subcontractors used by Intralot.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that the plan submitted to city officials by Intralot listed Potomac Supply Co. as the supplier of commercial paper product for sports betting. The CEO of Potomac Supply, Keith McDuffie, is the cousin of D.C. Councilman Kenyan R. McDuffie, who voted for the no-bid contract. Several weeks ago, the Post listed similar beneficiaries of no-bid deal to include a D.C. Board of Education official, Councilman Brandon Todd and a former campaign worker for Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Critics of the contract also point out that the business partner of Councilman Jack Evans is a lobbyist for Intralot. Evans also voted yes on the no-bid deal.
The D.C. mobile sports betting program will ramp up after approvals by the district’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. While ABRA does not issue sports betting licenses, the agency has a say in which liquor-licensed establishments will be able to offer sports books.
Meanwhile, the public comment period on D.C. sports betting regulations closed on July 15, and lottery staff will review the comments and determine if any merit inclusion.
“The lottery plans to incorporate some of the comments received into the final rules,” Office of Lottery and Charitable Games Director of Marketing and Communications Nicole Jordan told the Sports Handle news site. “The changes largely serve to provide further clarification on the proposed rules and will not fundamentally change the rules as initially proposed.”
So far, no date has been set for the release of final regulations.
