Washington, D.C.’s Office of Lottery and Gaming reported total sports betting handle of nearly $16 million for January, a sharp year-over-year decline as the City Council continues to ponder the fate of GambetDC.

Handle was down 20.7% from the first month of 2023, with the $7.2 million worth of wagers accepted by GambetDC representing an 18.5% decline. BetMGM was the only operator among the four Class A licensees to post a year-over-year increase — its $3.3 million handle was up 15.8%.

Despite the downturn in wagering activity, sports betting revenue surged almost 30% to $1.9 million, thanks to a district-wide hold of 12.1%. GambetDC generated $690,000 in adjusted gross revenue, but that was down 20% from January 2023. BetMGM had a 13.9% win rate to claim $461,000 in winnings, while Caesars’ hold neared 13% and resulted in $579,000 worth of revenue.

The district’s five-year contract with Intralot — the betting platform for GambetDC — expires in July. While talks have begun between Intralot and the D.C. Lottery for an extension through the summer and perhaps Intralot subcontracting an operator for the length of the extension, the City Council must sign off on such a deal.

GambetDC has been oft-maligned from practically the start since launching in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a peak in 2022 after an outage affected the iOS app during Super Bowl LVI. Intralot paid D.C. Lottery $500,000 to cover the lost potential wagers, but patience has run thin among City Council members, who are considering creating a more competitive mobile sports betting marketplace with multiple betting apps.

Overall, there were 330,000 bets placed in Washington, D.C., in January, down 15% from 2023. DC Lottery accounted for 61% of those wagers, an uptick from the 58% share it had for all of 2023. The average bet across the district was $48.36, down 6.9% compared to last year and 10.9% off the full-year 2023 average of $54.29.

DC Lottery represented 45% of the handle for January, with Caesars slipping to 28% — the first time it was below 30% since last June. BetMGM’s share topped 20% for the third time in the last four months.

The district’s two Class B licensees, Grand Central and The Cloakroom, had modest year-over-year increases in revenue. Grand Central claimed $49,000 in revenue, a 17.8% increase despite an 18.7% dip in handle to $327,000.

The Cloakroom, which paid out $50,000 above its $364,000 handle in 2023, had a 13.2% hold in keeping $3,300 of $25,000 wagered. The adult entertainment venue absorbed $104,000 in losses in a three-month stretch from August through October.