{"id":276544,"date":"2023-06-07T14:44:35","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T19:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=276544"},"modified":"2023-06-07T15:00:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T20:00:16","slug":"tensions-flare-among-dc-sports-betting-contractors-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tensions-flare-among-dc-sports-betting-contractors-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Tensions Flare Among DC Sports Betting Contractors — Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

An executive responsible for Washington DC\u2019s troubled sports betting rollout was paid handsomely while the program fell short of its revenue targets, leading to behind-the-scenes tensions among program participants, according to documents reported Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A view of the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. Tensions are brewing in the district after a sports betting app, GambetDC, fell short in its launch. (image: sportshandle.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The report adds to the woes facing sports betting in the nation\u2019s capital, where city officials gave exclusive access to a homegrown sports gambling app rather than allowing in established players such as DraftKings as other states have done. The app, GambetDC, was created by a partnership between Intralot, a Greek gaming services company, and Veterans Services Corp., a lottery subcontractor in the Washington area.<\/p>\n

According to documents obtained by the online news outlet Axios<\/em><\/a>, Intralot executives bristled at the at least $1.4 million it paid annually to VSC and the poor performance of the local firm.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cVSC\u2019s principal receives a salary seven times higher than the salary of the District\u2019s Mayor and untethered to any actual work or performance,\u201d wrote the former CEO of Intralot US, Byron Boothe, in a 2022 letter to DC lottery officials quoted by Axios<\/em>. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser\u2019s salary was $220K last year, according to Axios<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Intralot \u201creluctantly agreed\u201d to pay VSC and Boothe complained that \u201cVSC cannot perform anywhere close to 51%” of the work it was contracted to do “on its own,\u201d according to the correspondence reported by Axios<\/em>. Boothe did not elaborate on those claims, Axios<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

Criticisms and Shortcomings<\/h2>\n

In a separate letter earlier this year to small business officials in DC, Boothe reiterated his criticism of VSC and said Intralot had to make up for VSC\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis cannot continue,\u201d Boothe wrote in January.<\/p>\n

\n

Intralot chair Nikolaos Nikolakopoulos retracted Boothe\u2019s comments in his own letter to DC officials two weeks later, Axios<\/em> reported. Intralot announced Nikolakopoulos was replacing Boothe as CEO on Feb. 15, a week after Nikolakopoulos\u2019 sent the letter. Boothe remains at Intralot as a strategic consultant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Requests for comment to Intralot, VSC, and the DC Office of Lottery and Gaming were not immediately returned Wednesday.<\/p>\n

DC legalized sports betting in 2018 and GambetDC launched in early 2021 after the City Council approved a no-bid contract for Intralot, with VSC retaining a 51% stake.<\/p>\n

Problematic Origins<\/h2>\n

GambetDC has been plagued with problems from the start, including its infamous crash<\/a> during the 2022 Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

The app lost $4 million<\/a> in its first full year of operation, falling well short of initial estimates that it would generate $27 million in its first year. In fiscal 2022, GambetDC generated $2.7 million<\/a> in revenues, remaining well below initial projections.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dissatisfaction with GambetDC\u2019s performance led former DC Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) to propose legislation<\/a> last year that would have ended the Intralot contract. It opened DC\u2019s sports betting market to private competitors, mirroring the approach in neighboring Virginia and Maryland.<\/p>\n

The Council didn’t act on the legislation and Silverman subsequently lost her reelection race in November, but other council members have shown interest in the idea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An executive responsible for Washington DC\u2019s troubled sports betting rollout was paid handsomely while the program fell short of its revenue targets, leading to behind-the-scenes tensions among program participants, according to documents reported Wednesday. The report adds to the woes facing sports betting in the nation\u2019s capital, where city officials gave exclusive access to a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":276547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1074,16693],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTensions Flare Among DC Sports Betting Contractors -- Report - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An executive responsible for Washington DC\u2019s troubled sports betting rollout was paid handsomely while the program fell short of its revenue targets,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tensions-flare-among-dc-sports-betting-contractors-report\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tensions Flare Among DC Sports Betting Contractors -- Report - 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