Washington D.C. sports betting faces temporary app outage

[The Buzz]

FanDuel, the sole provider of citywide online sports betting in Washington, D.C., abruptly stopped accepting bets on Tuesday due to a delay in Mayor Muriel E. Bowser signing the city's 2025 fiscal year budget, which includes provisions for sports betting.

While the mayor's office later returned the budget unsigned, allowing sports betting to continue, FanDuel had not resumed operations as of Tuesday evening.

The delay also impacted the planned citywide launch of BetMGM, which was supposed to go live on Monday but remains restricted to bettors within a two-block radius of Nationals Park. BetMGM has announced a "pause" in its expansion plans, canceling a promotional event.

From The Washington Post:

Bowser spokeswoman Susana Castillo initially told The Post on Tuesday morning that the mayor received the budget legislation — the contents of which go well beyond sports gambling — on Thursday and that she has 10 business days to review it. On Tuesday afternoon, in a move that appeared to remedy the issue, Castillo said the mayor returned the budget to the D.C. Council without her signature or a veto, allowing the sports gambling provision to take effect immediately.

A spokesman for FanDuel did not immediately respond Tuesday evening to a request for clarification on the company’s plans in the wake of the mayor’s move.

FanDuel replaced GambetDC, the city’s failed attempt to get citywide sports betting off the ground, in April, and it was scheduled to be joined by BetMGM, which was supposed to go live on a citywide basis Monday. (It previously was available online only to gamblers who were within a two-block radius of Nationals Park, where the company offers a brick-and-mortar sportsbook.) However, the BetMGM app Tuesday continued to say it would allow bets only within proximity of Nationals Park.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...ports-betting/

[The Buzz]

UPDATE: Washington D.C. joined the ranks of competitive online sports betting markets on Wednesday, as FanDuel, Caesars Sportsbook, and BetMGM D.C. launched citywide operations.

While each operator has some restrictions around federal sites and exclusive zones within their partner stadiums or arenas, this move marks a significant expansion of sports betting options for D.C. residents and visitors.

Read more here: https://www.legalsportsreport.com/19...s-betmgm-join/