FanDuel’s short-lived monopoly on mobile sports betting in D.C. is in its final days.
In the wake of the D.C. Council’s decision last month to open the city’s mobile sports betting market to more operators, gambling giant BetMGM is planning to launch a citywide mobile betting app on Monday, according to an alert it sent to news media Wednesday.
Until now, D.C.residents have essentially had just one option for placing sports bets via mobile app since sports betting became legal in 2020. At first that app was GambetDC, run by the Greek gaming company Intralot under a contract with the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming, but lottery officials replaced it with FanDuel’s platform in April in a bid to generate more income from sports gambling.
In late June, the D.C. Council passed a fiscal 2025 budget that included a provision to open the market to up to seven more operators, arguing that a more competitive marketplace could generate millions of dollars more in annual revenue for the city. 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 professional sports franchises.
