WASHINGTON — It has been eight months since the District made its first foray into the world of sports betting, and with the NFL's biggest game of the year just around the corner, many fans are gearing up to legally wager on the game for the first time. Despite the controversial nature of gambling, D.C. was banking on a big win from allowing the hobby, but officials say it hasn't quite shaken out the way they expected.
“Our gambling income is below where we thought it would be because of the economy," DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said.
Sports betting in D.C. was projected to bring in $17 million between October 2019 and September 2020. That revenue was expected to support services like education, housing and public safety.
DC Lottery's GAMBET DC app, which allows residents to place bets on their phones, was set to bring in most of that money.
“I didn't have any success with the GAMBET app," one avid better named Scott said.
According to unaudited financial reports from the DC Lottery, the app only generated about $2.5 million.
“Those numbers included us being fully out in retail, which we could not do in a pandemic,” Nicole Jordan from the DC Lottery said. "Also those numbers included having sports the entire time."
Jordan said COVID-19 slowed the rollout of sports gaming in the District. The app launched in March, but sports didn't resume until mid-summer. Self-serve kiosks were supposed to be set up in restaurants and DC Lottery stores – that didn't happen. Plans for gaming at Nationals Park and Audi Field were also tabled.
According to the Office of Lottery and Gaming website, at least two companies with plans to open their own shops have applications that are "under review." That's millions of dollars in licensing fees and tax revenue D.C. is not getting right now.
"DC GAMBET is very different from the lottery,” avid better Scott said. “People can go to the liquor store and play the numbers, but you can't do that [with GAMBET]. You have to go through the app and the app only receives debit cards from certain banks. It kind of defeats the purpose of what they're trying to do if they want to do generate revenue from this kind of income."
Another better told WUSA9 that there have been reports of issues with gamblers receiving their winnings.
“I hear people have problems getting the money out,” the anonymous better said. “It takes a couple of days."
There is one other spot to legally place bets in the District: Capital One Arena. Back in August, William Hill -- one of the nation's top sportsbook operators -- paid $500,000 for a five-year license. They set up shop, temporarily, inside the box office on F Street Northwest, with seven ticket windows and 10 kiosks. Individuals can line up to place their bets seven days a week.
"If you win, you come get your money," one man said while waiting in line to collect his winnings.
In the four months since its launch in August, Hill has grossed more than $8 million but only 10% goes to the city in taxes – that's about $817,000, according to unaudited financial reports from DC Lottery.
"Private players we've always expected would be doing more business, but we get less in tax revenue from them,” Mendelson said. “And the government sector doesn't have as much business, but we're getting substantially more."
Jordan said they are trying to encourage more players to use the GAMBET DC app. She said DC Lottery is working to fine-tune the app and is already accepting other forms of payments like PayPal.
You also can't gamble on federal property, so you must allow the app to find your location to make sure your bet is legal.
As for those self-serve kiosks? Jordan said players can expect to see them in as many as 50 retail stores in the next couple of months.
While the pandemic may have sidelined sports gambling and the multimillion-dollar cash out city leaders were betting on, supporters believe GAMBET DC is still in the game.