FanDuel will replace GambetDC as the District’s official sports gambling app, the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming has announced.
Residents of the city were previously only able to gamble on sports using the GambetDC app, physical kiosks or at a couple of in-person sportsbooks, including the FanDuel Sportsbook at Audi Field, home of the D.C. United soccer team.
Gamers are also able to bet on the apps associated with those in-person sportsbooks in their immediate vicinity.
District residents will now have access to the FanDuel app and website. FanDuel will also take over physical GambetDC kiosks, OLG said Saturday.
FanDuel accounts for 50% of the market in neighboring Maryland and Virginia, and officials said the move is intended to recoup D.C. customers who gambled in those states instead of using GambetDC.
“Gambet has been crashing, there’s issues with it. That’s why I personally don’t use it. I’m just glad, I’m glad. It’ll get them a lot more business,” William Moyler, who bets elsewhere in D.C., told WDVM-TV.
In the fiscal year ending last Sept. 30, gamers wagered $116.2 million at D.C.’s in-person sportsbooks, while only betting $69.6 million on the GambetDC app, according to the Washington Business Journal.
FanDuel will also take over OLG’s current operating costs related to sports betting, allowing more revenue to enter the city’s general fund. These costs run from $2 million to $4 million yearly, according to iGB.com.
The move comes following complaints from city residents and officials about the GambetDC app.
“I have heard from many residents about the unease around the city’s woeful performance on sports betting. … From issues around usability to customer service and seriously declining revenue, we know the current model simply is not working,” D.C. At-Large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie said at an oversight hearing on Jan. 18.
Mr. McDuffie told WTTG-TV Monday that the switch away from GambetDC should have come sooner.
GambetDC was first launched in 2020 by Greek company Intralot, D.C.’s lottery operator, after it was awarded the contract for the city’s sports gambling app in 2019 following a no-bid process.
FanDuel is officially operating as a subcontractor for Intralot as part of that initial deal, which expires on July 15 according to WTTG-TV.
OLG did not say when the GambetDC app would be shut down.
“OLG and Intralot have evaluated the current platform and believe that FanDuel and its industry-leading platform will perform better within the highly competitive DMV region,” OLG Executive Director Frank Suarez said in a letter Friday, according to online gambling news site iGB.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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