Dec28
Intralot Faces United Sports Betting Opposition in DC
December 7, 2018 Jim Murphy
There’s always a first; and one remarkable exception of maiden kind just occurred when two groups with often conflicting interests – professional sports leagues and sports betting operators – came together in a t bid to impose shared interests on DC sports betting legislation.
Leagues’ side is represented by the NBA, FanDuel. The reason of their unlikely alliance? The prevention of lottery provider, Intralot, for getting the full monopoly on sports betting in US capitol.
Inflated Numbers?
The operators-leagues consortium will, in fact, appeal to DC Council for that not to happen. The majority of council have already backed the Council’s ideas on regulating sports betting – the full vote on this matter could take place on December 16th.
With the total lack of casinos in DC, the responsibility (and the honors) of organizing a regulated sports betting market falls to DC Lottery who is due to “partner with vendors to offer in-person and online sports wagering.”
Technically, it’s ground zero for Washington, DC. sports betting…
…So far, there’s only one candidate on the horizon: the Greek company Intralot that already supplies several US states with their tech sportsbook solutions.
They have won over the hearts and minds of council by stating, quite freely, that if they are to be the single sports betting provider in DC – they could produce a turnover that is up 30 times than an open model market with multiple vendors could generate!
A bold claim – and the one that is now being disputed by the alliance of operators and leagues.
A Cry For Open Market
This claim was published in documents seen by Legal Sports Report:
They call it, quite bluntly, a “vast exaggeration.” Sharing their opinion, the lobby of leagues and operators is beginning a counter-attack by circulating fliers around the home of the DC Council in which are urged to create an open market.
Part of the flyer reads: “A competitive market will allow operators to partner with the District’s small businesses and spend major marketing dollars and at local businesses, creating jobs and contributing more money into the local economy.”
As DC officials prepare to decide on the two paths they can go down – either a single vendor (Intralot) model running sports betting for DC Lottery or an open model in which DC Lottery will license and tax different sports betting operators – the lobbying forces for both sides enhance their persuasion techniques.
Integrity Fee For the Integrity of the Market
Just how desperate for open DC market operators are is best showcased in the part of the flier that even agrees to the infamous .25% integrity fee – that DC Council itself rejected it – on betting win for the leagues.
The integrity fee was a cause of a great rift and divide between jurisdictions, leagues and operators ever since the sports betting liberalization debate began.
The flier specifically says:
“Giving sports organizations a direct financial interest in the new betting market will create a massive benefit to the District and the D.C. business, as it will form a strong partnership among local government, betting operators, and the sports leagues, as the leagues — with their unparalleled sports fan reach and exclusive access to content — will be incentivized to the District’s sports betting market and drive its success.”
Source:
“The Possible DC Lottery Sports Betting Vendor is Exaggerating How Much Money it Would Make”, Dustin Gouker, legalsportsreport.com, December 3, 2018.
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This is a turn up for the book! Certainly not cool to just give one company the entire ownership of sportsbook market in DC. I hope they will rectify that.