DC Council faces tight window to pass iCasino legislation
Industry sources say Washington's internet gaming bill could still clear the Council before year end, despite sitting untouched in committee since May.
Washington, D.C. may yet legalise online casino gaming before 2026 closes, according to industry sources who spoke to SBC Americas, even though a bill to do so has barely moved in six months.
Councilmember Wendell Felder's Internet Gaming and Consumer Protection Act of 2026, filed as B26-0656, would put iCasino under the Office of Lottery and Gaming and ban the dual-currency sweepstakes model in the same statute.
Time is short. The current Council period runs out on January 2, 2027, and the Council's published calendar shows only three legislative meetings left this year, on November 10, December 1 and December 15, alongside Committee of the Whole sessions on November 24 and December 15.
The bill still needs the Committee on Human Services to mark it up and send it to the full Council, something that has not happened since the committee's near four-hour hearing on May 4.
At-large Councilmember Christina Henderson told that hearing, "The jury is still out on this."
The clock is complicated further by an election. Voters go to the polls Tuesday to pick a successor to Mayor Muriel Bowser, with the Council chair, two at-large seats and four ward seats also on the ballot, per WTOP.
Miss the December 15 deadline and the bill would have to start over with a Council that is partly new and a different mayor next year.
Felder's introduction letter in April put unlicensed-platform wagering by DC residents at roughly $700 million in 2024, framing the choice facing lawmakers: "The policy question is whether the District will regulate it effectively or allow it to remain unregulated."
As drafted, the bill would open an uncapped iCasino market, charging a $2 million application fee for a five-year licence and $500,000 to renew it, with suppliers paying $50,000 to apply and $25,000 to renew.
Each operator licence would cover up to two brands, though the OLG could approve more, and players would need to be 21, three years older than the District's threshold for sports betting.
Live-dealer and peer-to-peer games would be permitted, shared wallets with sports betting accounts could proceed with OLG sign-off, and reciprocal agreements with other jurisdictions would be allowed. Adjusted gross gaming revenue would be taxed at 25%, with the first $500,000 directed to the Department of Behavioral Health for problem gambling services and the remainder to the General Fund.
The companion sweepstakes ban targets any platform using two or more forms of currency or credit where at least one is redeemable for cash or prizes. The OLG could issue cease-and-desist orders, and the DC Attorney General could pursue injunctions, restitution and disgorgement, with each day of non-compliance treated as a separate violation carrying fines of up to $100,000, rising to $500,000 for a repeated pattern.
DC's sports betting market offers a cautionary backdrop. The city legalised wagering in 2019 but handed the DC Lottery both the regulatory role and a citywide mobile monopoly, while private sportsbooks at Capital One Arena, Nationals Park and Audi Field could only take mobile bets within two blocks of their venues.
The Lottery's GambetDC app ran on a platform built by Intralot under a no-bid $215 million contract that strained relations with its local subcontractor. Launched in May 2020, it badly underperformed, generating just $4.3 million in tax revenue against an $84 million projection.
The OLG replaced it in March 2024, naming FanDuel as the sole citywide provider operating as a subcontractor to Intralot. FanDuel went live that April and posted $5 million in gross gaming revenue in its first 30 days, an 887% jump over the same period a year earlier.
The Council then used its fiscal 2025 budget to open the market fully from July 15, 2024, letting venue operators take mobile bets citywide and creating licences tied to partnerships with DC sports franchises.
BetMGM and Caesars launched citywide that summer, DraftKings followed through DC United and Fanatics through the Washington Spirit, and bet365 joined in September via Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
DC sportsbooks handled $64.2 million in bets in July 2026, up 14.7% year over year, generating $6.1 million in gross gaming revenue.
Several of those same operators backed Felder's iCasino bill at May's hearing. DraftKings called online casino a "natural next step" after the District modernised sports wagering, while BetMGM said it had already put more than $65 million into the DC market.
Opposition came from Stop Predatory Gambling, which argued against the bill, and from ARB Interactive, owner of Publishers Clearing House, which testified against the proposed sweepstakes ban.