FanDuel’s short-lived monopoly on mobile sports betting across the District of Columbia is set to end on Monday as BetMGM and Caesars prepare to expand their operations in the district.
BetMGM confirmed to SBC Americas on Wednesday that it will launch its betting app across the district on Monday at noon ET. It plans to host a celebration at Nationals Park on Monday.
Caesars is also said to go live Monday across D.C.
Both companies’ launches are subject to final testing.
Those two brands have already been able to offer mobile wagering within a two-block radius of their respective physical sportsbooks. BetMGM operates a sportsbook at Nationals Park and Caesars has one at Capital One Arena. That means they have a headstart on other potential operators in the area, as they have already cleared regulatory hurdles with the D.C. Lottery.
FanDuel has been offering online and mobile wagers in D.C. for less than three months after taking over from GambetDC as the subcontractor for Intralot in April, although it already had market access via a retail sportsbook partnership with the D.C. United soccer team’s Audi Field.
Legislation opened up D.C. market
The district’s market is opening up as a result of legislation pushed by D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie that made it into the D.C. budget, which comes into effect on Monday.
Others could now look to follow BetMGM and Caesars through the door. Fanatics Sportsbook and DraftKings were among the sportsbooks who had lobbied for online sports betting access earlier this year.
Last month, at the time a potential expansion of the market was being discussed, FanDuel President Christian Genetski said in a letter to councilmembers that FanDuel would look to terminate its Intralot agreement and apply for a Class A operator license if its rivals were allowed in.
The D.C. Lottery’s website states that four Class A operator licenses are permitted, one tethered to each of the following venues:
- Audi Field
- Capital One Arena
- Nationals Park
- Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena
Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena is the only venue that does not already have a sports betting partner.
There are also an uncapped number of Class B licenses available to D.C. businesses which are not operated for the purpose of sports betting but want to offer wagering within their physical location.
However, a new class of license, Class C, will allow D.C. sports franchises that play 90% of their home games in the district to partner with one sports betting operator for online wagering. That ostensibly means that while Nationals Park is tethered to BetMGM, the Nationals themselves could partner with another operator.
Potential new operators would need to be approved by the lottery and meet regulatory stipulations.
