Intralot’s Washington, DC lottery and sports betting contract is the subject of a new investigation from the District’s attorney general’s office, according to new reporting.
Axios cited anonymous sources today (18 November) in saying that attorney general Brian Schwalb’s office requested more information related to the contract last summer. It is unclear if the investigation centres around Intralot specifically or a subcontractor. Schwalb’s office does have the power to bring civil lawsuits against companies if applicable. But the exact motive of the investigation and timeline are unclear.
Greek-based Intralot has run the DC Lottery since 2009. In 2019 it was also awarded a controversial $215 million (£169.6 million/€203 million), no-bid contract to run online sports betting as well. The platform it rolled out, GambetDC, never lived up to expectations. The app performed extremely poorly, both in terms of usability and revenue projections.
In early March, DC’s Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) approved Intralot’s request to have FanDuel replace GambetDC. Over the next three months it enjoyed a monopoly in the market, bringing in $78.5 million in handle and paying the city $4.5 million in taxes over that span. For comparison, GambetDC generated just $16.7 million in handle and $1.5 million in taxes during the same period in 2023.
In late June, the DC Council then opened the floodgates by opening the market to other commercial operators. A number of major platforms – BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel – are now live in the market.
VSC could be focal point of DC probe
The exact motive of the probe is unclear, but Axios posited it could be related to one subcontractor known as Veterans Services Corp (VSC). When Intralot was awarded the contract, it was required to partner with a local contractor. The organisation is based in DC and is run by local businessman Emmanuel Bailey.
Intralot is no longer required to run sports betting through its contract. But VSC is listed as “Operations Manager for the Lottery & Sports Betting contract”, per Axios. The outlet said Intralot has paid VSC $1.9 million annually. VSC is also slated to receive $19.8 million of a $39 million contract extension that was signed in July.
Emails obtained by Axios revealed that Bailey responded “wow” when shown performance figures from FanDuel after it took over sports betting.
