Small businesses across Washington DC will be able to offer in-person sports betting in partnership with GambetDC, the District’s Sportsbook.
This news comes as the GambetDC product, which is offered by the DC Lottery, has been consistently outperformed by William Hill’s sportsbook in the District.
Local DC business to offer sports betting
According to the DC Lottery’s announcement, from today several small businesses in the US capital will be able to open their own land-based sportsbooks through a partnership with GambetDC.
In its announcement, GambetDC said it is “focused on supporting local businesses in their effort to bounce back from the pandemic.”
Local businesses opening a sportsbook via the partnership with GambetDC will receive a 5% commission on all sports betting sales and a 1% commission on the cashing of sports betting products.
“We are excited to support these iconic local businesses and to help them return from the pandemic better than they were when it started,” said Nicole Jordan, Director of Marketing & Communications for DC Lottery. “Together, GambetDC and these local businesses are going to prove that betting on DC is always a good decision.”
Which businesses will offer betting?
Local DC businesses offering the activity will include the likes of Ben’s Next Door, Lou’s City Bar, Takoma Station Tavern, and Dirty Water.
On Friday, July 30, the locations will host events to celebrate the launch of their sports betting offerings from 7 pm to midnight.
According to the announcement, the events will showcase new self-service betting kiosks, and athletes such as Brian Mitchell, Rick ‘Doc’ Walker, Fred Smoot and Santana Moss will be in attendance.
“The pandemic was the biggest challenge I’ve ever had to experience; we lost 85% of our staff,” said Kamal Ali, owner of Ben’s Next Door, a staple in the District. “Getting our night shift back has helped, but there still is work to be done. Now we’ve got this new way to bring people in for them to have fun, and it’s going to be wonderful.”
Mark Helliwell, managing partner of Lou’s City Bar said: “Our goal is to be the top sports bar in the District, so adding sports betting was an easy decision. With GambetDC, we have a partner that’s as invested in our success as we are, and we can’t wait to get started.”
Potential boost to GambetDC performance
As well as supporting local businesses in the nation’s capital, the new programme would also provide the GambetDC product with an opportunity to shorten the gap with its competitors in DC.
At the time of writing there are three options for legal sports betting in DC which include GambetDC, William Hill, or BetMGM.
Of the three, Gambet is the only one to offer a true state-wide online betting experience.
Meanwhile, William Hill which is partnered with the Capital One Arena accepts bets via a mobile app within a two-block radius or at a physical sportsbook located at the Arena.
Similarly, BetMGM, which entered the District in partnership with the Washington Nationals can also accept bets via a mobile app within a two-block radius of the National’s stadium.
Despite having a clear advantage, the GambetDC product has consistently been outperformed by William Hill since launching last year.
The most recent figures from June show that William Hill took $15.7m in bets which translated into $1.6m in revenue. Meanwhile, Gambet took just $3.4m in bets and generated just $517,990 in revenue.
BetMGM generated $81,070 in revenue from $376,662 in bets, however, this was the operator’s first month of being active in the market.