Court upholds DC online betting monopoly, Hills crushes GamBetDC again

The District of Columbia’s controversial online sports betting monopoly has withstood yet another legal challenge, while the market gets ready to welcome another retail operator.

On Thursday, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals dismissed a 2019 Superior Court challenge of the DC Lottery’s controversial decision to award a no-bid online betting contract to Greek lottery/betting operator Intralot.

The challenge was brought by DC resident Dylan Carragher, a software developer who felt the DC online betting technology contract should have gone through a competitive tender. But the Court of Appeals found that Carragher had failed to demonstrate that he’d suffered any ‘injury in fact’ and thereby lacked standing, leading the Court to dismiss his challenge.

Sadly, while the Court rejected Carragher’s claims that he’d suffered injury from being denied the right to pursue the District’s betting technology contract, it also ruled that Carragher hadn’t suffered any ‘dollars-and-cents’ injury as a municipal taxpayer.