FanDuel Threatens to Terminate Agreement with DC Lottery after Lawmakers Pass 2025 Budget

FanDuel has said it would “invoke its termination right” if lawmakers expand the sports betting market in the District.

Ziv Chen - News Editor at Covers.com
Ziv Chen • News Editor
Jun 17, 2024 • 13:01 ET • 4 min read
Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

In a letter sent to D.C. City Council chairman Phil Mendelson earlier this month, FanDuel president Christian Genetski warned that the operator may dissolve its partnership with the city to operate its sports betting platform.

Genetski sent the letter before lawmakers considered a 2025 budget that included provisions to expand the sports betting market in the District, a budget that has since gained approval from the D.C. Council.  

The new budget will create a new Class C license, allowing sportsbooks to partner with one of the state’s professional sports teams and offer mobile sports betting across the District. Currently, FanDuel is the only betting platform available District-wide through its partnership with the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG).  

Mayor Muriel Bowser still needs to approve the 2025 budget, which still faces opposition due to the tax implications, but if she does, FanDuel has said it would “invoke its termination right” and end its agreement with the Online Lottery and Gaming office.

“Any District-wide sportsbook operations by OLG would no longer have participation from FanDuel,” Genetski commented. 

FanDuel could still partner with a local sports team and launch its mobile platform in the District under a Class C license if it terminates the agreement. The company already holds a Class A license, which allows it to run a retail sportsbook at Audi Field, where D.C. United and the Washington Spirit soccer teams play.  

FanDuel stated after the 2025 budget passed through the D.C. City Council that it “remains committed to providing D.C. residents with a best-in-class sports betting offering under its current contract with the Office of Lottery and Gaming, while also maximizing revenue to the District under that agreement.” 

FanDuel exiting the agreement would potentially leave the DC Lottery without a partner to operate online and retail D.C. sports betting kiosks across the District. Prior to FanDuel taking over on April 15 this year, Intralot ran GambetDC on behalf of the DC Lottery from 2020. 

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Ziv Chen
News Editor

Ziv has been deep in the iGaming trenches for over 20 years, long before most people could spell "geolocation compliance." With a background in marketing and business development at some of the biggest names in gambling tech, Ziv knows the industry from the inside out. Since joining Covers, he's turned his sharp eye (and sharper keyboard) toward everything happening in the fast-moving world of online gambling. Whether it's new state launches, the latest twists in regulation, or what the big operators and game providers are cooking up next, Ziv breaks it all down with clarity, context, and just the right amount of snark. He covers the business side of betting, from affiliate trends and revenue reports to the tech powering your favorite slots. His motto in writing is “let’s make it make sense without putting you to sleep.”

When he’s not tracking gambling legislation or looking for the next breaking story, Ziv is living and dying with every pitch and play from his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. As a Pitt graduate, it’s a city loyalty forged in heartbreak, but one he wouldn’t trade for anything, except maybe a few more playoff wins.

When away from the keyboard, Ziv loves to hit the road and soak up the energy of casinos. Whether strolling the neon jungle called the Vegas Strip, or wandering into a smoky riverboat casino in the Midwest, Ziv’s in his element. He’s the guy chatting with players, blackjack dealers, and asking pit bosses way too many questions, all in the name of “research,” of course. The casino floor isn’t just his workplace, it’s a weird and wonderful ecosystem of flashing lights, wild characters, and pure sensory overload, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

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