Sports betting operator FanDuel is set to make its debut in Washington D.C. next week (April 15) after the district’s Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) announced the company as a subcontractor on Intralot last month.
FanDuel will be taking over GambetDC which has been powered by Intralot since 2019. Intralot Inc. is the existing lottery and sports gambling system vendor in partnership with OLG.
When it introduced GambetDC some years ago, exclusive rights to online wagering in the D.C. area were given to the company.
Customers have since complained about unfavorable odds and poor performance, resulting in the Office enlisting the help of FanDuel to become the new exclusive operator.
It’s now expected that the number one sports gambling brand in the United States will replace GambetDC’s retail operations too.
FanDuel will continue to operate in the area under its closed market which restricts the use of non-exclusive sportsbooks outside a two-block radius of pro sports facilities like the Capital One Arena, Audi Field, and Nationals Park.
This also comes at a time when FanDuel is expanding its operations into other states, the most recent being North Carolina as they partnered with the NFL side Carolina Panthers back in March.
Complaints around sports betting company in Washington D.C.
This move has been in the works since January when a meeting was held between the Lottery office and the council. D.C. Council Committee on Business and Economic Development (CBED) Chair Kenyan McDuffie shared their frustrations about GambetDC.
“I’ve heard from many residents about their unease with the district’s woeful performance on sports betting,” he stated.
“I absolutely share those same sentiments, from issues around usability, customer service, and seriously declining revenue. We know the current model simply is not working,” added McDuffie on the venture, which has delivered $8.5 million in taxes to the District since its launch in May 2020.
During the same sitting, it was suggested that Intralot is ready to bring in a subcontractor. Just three months later that has been turned into a reality with the new company coming in from April 15.
Featured image: Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash
