WASHINGTON, D.C. — Standing at the edge of the National Mall, the United States Capitol to my back and the Washington Monument a visage in the distance, I prepared for another District of Columbia sports betting fail.
For the first time, I was hoping for it.
Mobile sports betting in Washington, D.C., has proved a tricky proposition not only for regulators and bettors, but also for geofencing firm GeoComply, which was tasked with prohibiting gambling on federal lands. The nation’s capitol is chock-full of them — from the massive Mall, which stretches beyond where the late-afternoon sun this day forced the eyes to squint toward the Washington Monument, to tiny misshapen parcels crammed behind bus stops.
So with all the problems emanating from D.C. sports betting since its inception a month short of five years ago, sneaking in a bet on the approaching Washington Capitals playoff game from the Mall’s crunchy walkway didn’t feel like so much of an insurrection.
App opened.
-180 moneyline?
Anything for journalism.
Can’t verify my location? What?
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
I lost, but the system won.
It was a big day for D.C. sports betting (and later the Caps, too).
Sports betting stands a chance post-Intralot?
Several ultimately unsuccessful sports enterprises have taken up residence within this aspirationally square district straddling the Potomac River.
Without even daring to initiate a political discourse, there were the Senators, Federals, and Diplomats. The Wizards are currently fouling the air and, until last spring, there was GambetDC. Only the Wizards remain from this group.
An appendage of the DC Lottery run by Intralot, a Greek online lottery and gambling platform, GambetDC was a frustrating, non-intuitive, court-ruled ill-gotten waste-of-digital-space app that local sports bettors were forced to use unless they were within the two-block fiefdoms that national operators like Caesars or FanDuel established around pro sports venues through marketing partnerships.
GambetDC kiosks in local pubs were often unplugged, and the app and website were terrible. Terrible, but GambetDC counted. And as part of a long-since-abandoned attempt — you grew too fast, U.S. sports betting! — to make a legal sports bet in every available jurisdiction before fellow reporters did, I used the occasion of returning home for a funeral a few years ago to check another box.
I could have simply cruised Route 50 until it became New York Avenue, near that liquor store that was handy when the D.C. drinking age was just 18. But I decided to check out some real sports betting flavor, taking up a booth at a pub deeper in the city — ultimately with plenty of those unplugged kiosks — and folks yelling at the Terps game on television.
Firing up the laptop, I was able to make the minimum deposit after only five or six fails and proceeded with the exercise. Mission accomplished. My typical betting prowess having winnowed my wallet to $5.40, I bid the District good luck and attempted to initiate a withdrawal.
Fail.
Fail.
Fail.
So many fails.
Just to really source out how bad an experience this really was for the monopolized residents, I began a discourse with customer service that finally led to the conclusion that my funds couldn’t be withdrawn until my identity was verified.
But, I asked, why did you let me bet when my identity wasn’t verified?
What if I were 9 years old?
The email string went cold from there — for three more years actually, until GambetDC quite persistently began hammering me with emails regarding an Oct. 15 deadline when the site would shut down and funds could no longer be reclaimed.
After several more fails, I remembered why my $5.40 had been left behind. Download this authenticator. Fail. Send a pic of the driver license. Fail.
Ultimately, that $5.40 stayed behind. Maybe it eventually went toward the settlement stemming from how Intralot landed the D.C. contract in the first place.
No wonder GambetDC only managed 58% of the District’s handle in 2023 despite controlling the vast majority of its real estate.
Morning in the nation’s capital
Since the DC Lottery last April shuttered GambetDC and eventually opened the areas not with those two-block parcels around sports venues, BetMGM, Caesars (which took over Intralot’s kiosks), DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel became otherwise available throughout the District in July.
Kiosks frequently remain either broken or tarped over, but, hey, the phone’s the thing anyway, right?
DC Lottery financial reports bear that out. Through March, which produced a record $80-plus-million in total handle, DraftKings had taken in $49 million in bets this year even though it doesn’t offer retail betting in D.C. because it doesn’t have a pro sports team affiliation. That amount is second only to FanDuel ($107 million), which has a retail partnership with the MLS D.C. United franchise at Audi Field.
Retail and mobile/online handle isn’t separated by the DC Lottery, but the five establishments licensed to offer retail-only wagering — albeit without the brand identity of a national wagering outfit — combined to take in $178,060.50 with just two actually taking bets. The jauntily named Over Under Sportsbook Rooftop Lounge, an open-air bar atop a multiple-level strip club within walking distance of Capital One Arena, had an assortment of tarped kiosks on Caps game day last week, which explains its non-handle.
One of those national apps worked just fine looking down on K Street NW.
It’s important to know where you in stand in D.C..
And for D.C. sports betting, that’s in a better place.
