Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Wizards and the Caps, says he hopes to offer sports betting on the NBA and NHL playoffs inside Capital One Arena by April of this year. News4’s Mark Segraves reports.
The D.C. Council moved toward making Washington the first jurisdiction in the DMV to have online sports betting.
The committee of the whole voted 8-5 Tuesday morning to allow the city to bypass the bid process and give its sports betting contract to current lottery vendor Intralot. The council also extended Intralot's current lottery contract without a bid process.
D.C. could implement sports wagering as early as the spring.
Council members on both sides of the question acknowledged if the contract was put out to bid, it would delay online sports betting for more than just a few months.
District officials hope by being first, they’ll capture not only D.C. residents as customers but people who live in Maryland and Virginia.
