DC Sports Betting April Reports Lowest Handle for GambetDC

Article ByStan Fox

May 24, 2021

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Posted in: US Sports Betting News, Washington DC Gambling News

DC sports betting handle reported April the lowest handle for its online sports betting structure operated by GambetDC. April handle saw a 30% month-over-month decline. The cause of the failure of digital sports betting, which has dominated the US sports betting industry elsewhere, is the monopolistic design of the DC lottery, the exclusive provider of mobile sports betting in the district.

According to the monthly report, DC sports betting handle for both online and retail was $10.74 million, with a trend of repeated failure of lottery’s GambetDC app whose share was only $2.74 million in total sports betting handle in April.

Another unique trend was the dominance of retail sports betting in DC as William Hill posted $8 million in April handle. The Caesars-owned bookmaker has a retail existence in Capital One Arena, and the UK-based operator can also take mobile bets within the small radius around the building.

The Lowest Handle for GambetDC

GamebetDC, a joint operation of the DC lottery, and Intralot- a Greek company- posted its lowest handle ever in April. It was even lower than the pandemic-era figures. Gambet is the only online option available to the residents of DC since October 2020.

Though the other legal sports betting states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have also seen declines in handles, those jurisdictions are expected to see recovery amid the approaching NBA and the Olympics. Unfortunately, the same is not the case with DC, which contains the seed of its own failure: the lack of an open market.

DC has struggled to build up its sports betting without any considerable success. Eventually, the nation’s capital continues to see month-over declines in both handle and revenue.

DC Retail Sports Betting Also Dipped but Steady

Meanwhile, William Hill also reported a shrinking handle to $8 million, a decrease of almost $3.5 million from March. However, the month-over-month dip was due to a traditional hibernating month following the NCAA Tournament, the biggest event on the sporting calendar.

DC retail betting was still far better than GambetDC’s virtual monopoly over district-wide online betting. It should be noted that in most states with legal sports betting, mobile handles usually dominates, in majority cases even 90% of the total handles.

DC sports betting handle in April reported a 29.6% decrease from March’s $15.28 million, and despite William Hill’s $3.5 million shrinks, the sportsbook’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) actually increased to $1.55 million to March’s $1.15 million.

Meanwhile, GambetDC saw April revenue of roughly $536,000, representing a 25% decline from March’s nearly $715,000.

Will GambetDC Bounce Back?

January 2021 was the biggest month for GambetDC since online sports betting launched in October 2020. The artificial boom was probably due to bettors’ interest in the NFL.

 Since after January, each month has brought gloom for the DC lottery’s app, with April posting the lowest handle ($2.74 million) ever.

DC sports betting is unlikely to bounce back, partly due to its inherent structure and partly due to the launch of Maryland sports betting, which could steal the show as soon as it goes live later this year.