Despite the subpar performance and decreasing revenues reported by D.C. Lottery’s existing mobile sports betting application, GambetDC, the Lottery may continue its collaboration with Intralot, the Greek company that currently powers the mobile betting app. The collaboration between the duo dates back to 2019. At the time, D.C. Lottery signed a five-year partnership with Intralot.
This summer, the contract between the two is expected to end. While critics of GambetDC have repeatedly flagged different concerns related to technical glitches, uncompetitive odds and continuous underperformance, Intralot may retain its partnership with the D.C. Lottery, at least for a short period of time.
Customer dissatisfaction has been growing over the last few years, yet a new report suggests that the D.C. Lottery may prolong its partnership with the Greek betting software developer. Frank Suarez, the head of the Lottery, who was recently cited by Washington City Paper, spoke in front of the Office of Lottery and Gaming on the topic last week.
At the time, he revealed that D.C. Lottery is considering renewing its collaboration with Intralot. This is possible under a policy within the contract that allows renewal of up to five years after the initial contract’s expiration date, which is set for July. “The length of the extension is not clear yet,” explained Suarez.
The Prolonged Collaboration Is a Temporary Solution
Before the expiry of the contract, the D.C. Lottery also hinted at plans to improve GambetDC. This can be achieved by engaging with a third-party company that will improve the sports betting app. The recently announced plan ultimately seeks to strengthen GambetDC, allowing the city to benefit from increased revenues.
D.C. Lottery’s plan to improve the sports betting app may create a new opportunity for operators such as FanDuel, BetMGM or Caesars, for example, to operate the mobile betting app in Washington D.C. Yet, the plan doesn’t sound like the best resolution in the context of the problematic relationship between the Lottery and Intralot, as well as the underperformance of the mobile sports betting application in the city.
Still, according to Suarez, the possibility of engaging with a “top performing, nationally recognized” sports betting operator for GambetDC isn’t a permanent solution. He revealed that this action seeks to offset the dissatisfactory performance of the betting app, while the D.C. Lottery would consider whether to prolong its collaboration with Intralot and for how long. With that in mind, even if the Lottery anticipates ending its business relationship with the software provider, it will need time to prepare the application process for a new supplier.