DC Mayor Won’t Sign Budget, But FanDuel Returns After Day Off
Washington D.C.’s Muriel Bowser sent the District’s FY 2025 budget back to the D.C. council without a signature, putting sports betting in the crosshairs of political bickering.
Fortunately for eager sports bettors in the nation’s capital, the lack of budget signature only temporarily impacted the District’s sports betting plans. FanDuel, which stopped accepting mobile bets Tuesday, began accepting bets again Wednesday morning.
BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook should also launch in D.C. in the near future, a launch made possible by new sports betting language in the budget that eliminates the area’s sports betting monopoly.
“In DC, the Mayor returning the budget unsigned will still permit it to pass into law,” Bowser’s press secretary told Sports Handle via email. “It is a demonstration of the Mayor’s objections to several elements of the budget passed by the DC Council … Sports betting in DC will move forward as detailed in the budget.”
Originally, there was hope among sports betting stakeholders that Bowser would sign the budget late last week. BetMGM even planned to throw a party Monday at Nationals Park to celebrate that its sports betting app would be available across the majority of the District. Caesars Sportsbook (Capital One Arena) also planned to launch District-wide Monday, albeit without a party at its retail location.
Instead, BetMGM canceled its party and both operators delayed their District-wide mobile expansion. The two betting apps are currently allowed to be used within a two-block radius of their retail sportsbooks, but not across most of the District.
FanDuel had been operating as the primary betting app in Washington D.C., taking over for GambetDC earlier this year. FanDuel worked as a subcontractor for Intralot, but the deal required the operator to pay a 40% tax rate. The new plan, as outlined in the budget, allows betting apps to operate across the District and pay a 20% tax rate.
Given the shift to FanDuel’s access to Washington D.C., it temporarily stopped accepting mobile wagers Tuesday.
The unusual situation was quickly remedied, but Tuesday was another headache in a long list of Washington D.C. sports betting oddities.
