The race to challenge FanDuel’s mobile sports betting supremacy in D.C. is on, and Caesars Sportsbook wants to get an early jump on the competition.
The District’s market for mobile sports betting is expected to open to multiple operators on Monday July 15, and Caesars intends to launch its citywide mobile at a minute past midnight — 12 hours before rival BetMGM goes live with its citywide app — a Ceasars official told me Thursday.
There is a caveat: Neither app can go live until Mayor Muriel Bowser signs the fiscal year 2025 budget bill that expanded the city’s sports betting market, and she had not signed it as of Thursday afternoon. She has until July 25 to sign the bill before it takes effect automatically.
FanDuel currently has exclusive rights to operate a mobile sports betting app citywide under a contract with the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming. But lawmakers have long wanted to expand the marketplace in hopes of bringing in more revenue, and, in June, the D.C. Council passed a budget bill that does that. Specifically, the provision creates a new type of gambling license that permits sports betting platforms to establish citywide apps in partnership with one of the city’s seven professional sports franchises.
