DraftKings announces it's coming to the District, expanding mobile sports betting in DC

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — On the day training camp fully gets underway for the Washington Commanders, sports fans learned they will have a new option for sports betting in the District.

DraftKings announced its intention to launch its online sportsbook in Washington D.C., pending licensure and regulatory approvals.

DraftKings entry into the D.C. market comes after the online sports betting company reached an agreement to be the sports betting provider at Audi Field for D.C. United, paving the way for the digital sports entertainment and gaming company to operate in the District. Once live, Washington D.C. would become the 29th jurisdiction in North America in which the DraftKings Sportsbook operates.

“It has been incredible to see legalized sports betting grow rapidly over the past six years, and with plans to launch our online sportsbook in D.C., DraftKings looks forward to expanding its presence in more than half the country,” said Matt Kalish, President, DraftKings North America. “We would like to thank the D.C. Council for creating a path to bring DraftKings’ top-rated sportsbook to the nation’s capital.”

“With the D.C. Council’s recent decision to expand the world of sports betting in D.C., we look forward to working with DraftKings to introduce their online sportsbook as another way for D.C. residents to bet in the city,” said Danita Johnson, President of Business Operations for D.C. United.

Sports betting in DC got off to a disastrous start, after the DC Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) signed a contract with an overseas vendor to create the GambetDC app. It was been plagued with problems since creation, including a glitchy system that didn’t always work and had worse odds than those being offered by brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at Capital One Arena and Nationals Park.

The result was people simply didn’t use the GamebetDC app that much. GambetDC was projected to bring in $20 million a year in revenue when the DC Council approved sports betting in 2019. But it only generated a little more than $4 million over that time. 

By comparison, Caesars Sportsbook at Capital One brought in more than that in January 2024 alone, and only a very small portion of those profits are taxable. GambetDC actually lost money one month in 2023, which is nearly unheard of in the sports betting world

In March, the city announced it was shaking things up to try and salvage its failing sports betting app. OLG said it would partner with FanDuel, allowing the national sports wagering operation to take over D.C.’s sports betting operation on a phased basis, at the time making FanDuel D.C.’s lone citywide mobile betting option.