Sports bettors in Washington DC now have an alternative to the GambetDC platform.
On Friday, William Hill soft-launched a temporary land-based sportsbook in the box office of the Capital One Arena in Washington DC.
The opening of this temporary sportsbook marks the opening of the first-ever sportsbook at a professional sports venue in the US.
William Hill at the Capital One Arena
The William Hill-branded sportsbook at Capital One is the product of a partnership with Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns the Capital One Arena. Monumental Sports also own the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, and Washington Mystics.
A grand opening for the William Hill sportsbook is set to take place today, where the ceremonial first bets will be placed by season ticket holders from the Washington Capitals, Mystics and Wizards.
The temporary sportsbook will use ticket windows at the Capital One Arena to take wagers as for the time being no teams will play at the venue. William Hill will use self service sports betting kiosks to take bets at the venue.
The sportsbook will be open daily between 11 am and 11 pm.
Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill US said: “We’ve come up with this temporary location as a way to allow our customers to bet on sports now that they are resuming, while we continue to work towards finalizing the permanent sportsbook, restaurant and bar concept we have always visualized.”
The permanent sportsbook will be located in the space where the Greene Turtle Sports Bar and Grille used to be located. Officials hope to have the permanent sportsbook completed in the fall.
Sports betting in DC
In 2019, Washington DC’s mayor signed the proposed sports betting bill into law. Under the district’s sports betting law, bettors will be able to place bets via an online app run by the DC Lottery, at select sporting venues and at licensed bars.
With the opening of the land-based sportsbook, bettors in DC will have an alternative to the DC Lottery’s mobile betting platform, GambetDC.
The creation of the DC Lottery’s sports betting app was surrounded in controversy after the council voted to skip the standard bidding process and grant the district’s sports betting contract to Intralot.
In addition to this, the GambetDC platform was delayed several times and features uncompetitive odds and a lengthy signup process. The Lottery’s sports betting platform did not take its first sports for more than 15 months after receiving approval.
