For Release: Tuesday, July 13, 2022 
Contact: Laisha Dougherty, 202-706-0539, [email protected] 

Washington, D.C. — Today, the  Committee on Business and Economic Development, Chaired by Council Kenyan R. McDuffie convened a public oversight roundtable on the District’s Sports Wagering Program. The District of Columbia legalized sports wagering in January 2019, with the passage of the Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act of 2018. Since its launch in 2020, DC’s sports wagering program has experienced repeated operational challenges and has not witnessed nearly the revenue originally forecasted by the Office of the Chief of Financial Officer.

The Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG), under the Office of the Chief of Financial Officer, regulates and oversees sports wagering in the District. OLG recently convened a set of roundtables focused on the regulations for private operations. Following the OLG rulemaking roundtables, Councilmember McDuffie convened this oversight roundtable to conduct a more holistic review of the sports wagering program, including the DC-run operation, GamBetDC.

The Council will be on recess beginning July 15, 2022, through September 15, 2022; in the interim, the Committee has requested additional information from OLG and stakeholders to help members determine what additional changes might be considered to improve revenue returns from the District’s sports wagering operations.

Councilmember McDuffie stated:

The purpose of today’s roundtable was to hold the Office of Lottery and Gaming accountable for enhancing the performance of the District’s sports wagering program, growing revenue, and competing with sports wagering programs in neighboring states.

We all want to make sure the District’s sports wagering programs serves the interests of District residents, captures revenue from neighboring states and tourists who are returning to the city, and produces the promised, but currently unrealized, revenue.

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