Championing a $215 million sole-source contract to run online sports betting in the nation’s capital, D.C. Council and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser has allowed city executives to defer procurement regulations while awarding a profitable contract to Greek gambling firm Intralot.
However, the pact has been marred with controversy, with several subcontractors named in the contract having unscrupulous track records and links that trace them right back to the very officials that approved the deal. Subcontractors in the deal are seen to get as more than a third of the $215 million allotted by D.C.
After a long negotiation with Intralot, D.C. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey S. DeWitt released the details of the proposed five-year contract earlier this week. The pact strengthens Intralot’s hold on the city’s gaming industry, with its prolonged stint managing the city’s lottery, and now also gaining control over online sports betting.
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The Council stated that it decided to choose Intralot after reviewing the company’s proposed timeline for sports betting. DC. Was keen on getting online sports betting up and running before the end of the year to maximize tax revenue and Intralot came across as the best option.
Among the sports gambling subcontractors for Intralot is Emmanuel Bailey, who was also involved in the D.C. lottery deal. The lottery pact was dogged by controversy from its inception, but investigators eventually dismissed accusations of legal wrongdoing as unsubstantial.
Law firm Goldblatt, Martin and Pozen which lobbied for sports betting legislation in the D.C. Council is also among the contractors. It was Bailey who hired them to lead the campaign.
Another subcontractor, District Services Management is run by administrators still plagued by falsification allegations. The former executives of Life Deeds who were earlier kicked out for mismanaging a homeless shelter in Ward 7 had been suspended by the D.C. Department of Human Services from handling cases for subsidized housing after they allegedly falsified personnel records.
Yet another subcontractor Octane is owned by Everett Hamilton, who ran communications for Bowser’s first mayoral race, as well as for D.C. Council member Brandon T. Todd in 2016. The other sports gambling subcontractors also have very public connections to D.C. politicians.
D.C. is being touted as a potential sports gambling destination in the Washington area after bills seeking to legalize sports betting in neighbouring Maryland and Virginia have made very little headway.
West Virginia and Delaware are the closest states where sports betting is now legal.
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