A new bill in the D.C. Council would open up the city to multiple mobile sports betting apps, effectively undoing the virtual monopoly currently held by the D.C. Lottery and its widely criticized GambetDC app.

The measure, authored by Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), would also terminate the city’s current sole-source contract with Intralot — the Greek gaming giant that operates the city’s lottery and developed the Gambet app — when it’s up for renewal in 2024, and require that any future lottery and sports betting contract be competitively bid.

Silverman’s bill addresses some of the simmering frustrations with GambetDC and the controversial sole-source contract that the D.C. Council granted Intralot in 2019 to develop the sports betting app for the D.C. Lottery.

Initially the contract was promoted by the city’s former chief financial officer as the quickest way for D.C. to jump into the sports betting market ahead of Maryland and Virginia and sweep up regional revenues. But the GambetDC app has since suffered high-profile technical flubs (it didn’t work for many users on Super Bowl weekend) and has seen its revenue-projections dramatically slashed (lottery officials disclosed earlier this year that the app actually lost money in 2021). The app is poorly reviewed in both Apple and Google’s app stores, and a full revamp last week made it briefly unusable for many iPhone users.

The bill would make D.C. more like Maryland and Virginia when it comes to sports betting, which was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in mid-2018. Virginia legalized sports betting in early 2021, and now has 13 apps — including FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM — residents can use to wager on sports. And in Maryland, as of last week 10 private operators had applied for licenses to run their apps in the state; mobile sports betting is expected to start by the end of the year. In D.C., privately operated sports betting apps only work within a two-block radius of brick-and-mortar sportsbooks, but nowhere else in the city.

“We need to turn the page on this embarrassing episode,” said Silverman, one of five lawmakers who voted against the Intralot contract, in a statement. “Residents deserve an online app that works, taxpayers deserve a program that brings in money for the District, and we all deserve a system where we don’t hand huge contracts to a preferred company and its subcontractors without even looking at the competition.”

Officials with the D.C. Lottery did not immediately return a request for comment, but during a council hearing over the summer they said GambetDC’s fortunes were looking up. According to data from the lottery, 1.9 million bets were placed on the app from Oct. 2021-Sept. 2022, up from 1.2 million the year before. The officials also said the GambetDC app returns a higher percentage of revenue to the city than private operators do, and that opening up the market to private competitors wouldn’t suddenly increase the amount of money flowing into the city’s coffers.

“Not only would changing the model to privately operated mobile and online model be riskier, and provide a lower share of sports wagering profits to the District, but it would also increase regulatory costs,” said Franco Suarez, the director of the D.C. Lottery.

Currently, residents and visitors are also able to place bets on games at D.C. Lottery retail locations, or at a number of existing brick-and-mortar sportsbooks in the city: Caesars Sportsbook at the Capital One Arena, BetMGM at Nationals Park, FanDuel at Audi Field, or Grand Central in Adams Morgan.

Silverman’s bill was co-introduced by Councilmembers Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6). It’s unclear whether the bill will move forward before the end of the council’s two-year legislative session later this year; should it not, it would have to be reintroduced next year.

Silverman is currently vying for re-election to her At-Large seat, and is facing a challenge from current Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie. Over the course of the year, McDuffie has expressed displeasure with GambetDC’s performance, and hinted that he would be supportive of allowing private operators into the city.