Appeals Court Dumps Lawsuit Against DC Sports Betting Contract

• The case against Washington, D.C. and its sports betting contract with Intralot has finally come to a close almost 14 months after it all began.
• In the end, app developer Dylan Carragher lost his appeal in court and will be walking away from the case no richer than when he originally filed the lawsuit due to insufficient evidence to back his claims.

WASHINGTON – More than a year after Washington, D.C. and its lottery received a complaint about their no-bid sports betting operator choice, the lawsuit against the District has been thrown out on appeal.

On Thursday, the case made by resident app developer Dylan Carragher was dismissed. The original paperwork from last year had Carragher citing his inability to throw his hat in the ring to be the operator of GambetDC, the lottery’s mobile sports wagering platform.

Instead, that privilege went to INTRALOT through a no-bid $215 million contract and was claimed as unlawful on the part of the District and the lottery by Carragher.

Carragher is the owner of esportsbet.gg and maintained his story to the courts that being unable to have a shot at working with the lottery ultimately threw a wrench in his future success with the D.C. sports betting industry.

The Beginning, The Middle, And The End

The story began in September 2019, when Carragher filed papers with the court after the July announcement of INTRALOT being given the sports wagering platform contract by the D.C. Lottery.

Carragher said that the city did not follow the proper protocols which would typically call for a bidding process by all qualified operators to get a chance at the contract. Two months after the announcement by INTRALOT, Carragher filed his complaint and the saga began.

Three months into the case, after a temporary restraining order was issued against the District pending an investigation, judges decided that there was not enough evidence to warrant further time on the subject and the case went in favor of D.C. and the lottery.

During this time, Carragher tried to get a bigger, more permanent restraining order to stop the company from moving forward but was denied. However, after the judgment was handed down, he requested an appeal, changing the angle of the original case just enough that the appeal was granted.

Ten months later after his appeal request, the courts have concluded that all of the new angles in Carragher’s back pocket still came up short in the evidence department which led to the final dismissal of the case.

For one, his argument about the no-bid process did not individually affect him. He had no real desire to run GambetDC. Instead, he wanted the opportunity to compete with the platform but the marketplace for the competition is non-existent for legal sports betting in the District the judges concluded.

As far as his injury claim as a taxpayer based on the $215 million contract given to INTRALOT and Carragher’s stating that number was too high, especially when no other operators we allowed to bid on it, went without merit as well.

The contract between INTRALOT and the D.C. Lottery would not in any way harm the taxpayer because of the amount of money paid to the platform operator. If any part of the industry were to be affected by that sum, it would be the revenue at the end of the year. It may be lower than projected but it in no way affects the residents of the District and the amount of taxes they pay.

Sports Betting In D.C.

Carragher and his case are now becoming a distant memory. Sports betting in Washington D.C. is doing well, but the GambetDC application is being outshined by the only land-based sportsbook in the area with the William Hill Sportsbook at the Capital One Arena.

For the month of September, GambetDC took in $3.3 million in bets and $500,000 in revenue. But its sole competitor for sports betting in the District took in $12.2 million in handle and $1.3 million in revenue.

It’s been speculated that the better odds offered by William Hill are what has the company doing circles around GambetDC, at least for the month of September among residents in the District.

News tags: Capital One Arena | DC Lottery | Dylan Carragher | esportsbet.gg | GambetDC | Intralot | Washington DC | William Hill