Doug Bonjour is a veteran sportswriter with more than a decade of experience, including in the realm of sports betting. He’s written for the New York Times, Associated Press, CBS Sports and Hearst Connecticut Media...
Read Full BioOffice of Lottery and Gaming data showed that March was a busy month for DC sportsbooks, with operators taking approximately $80 million of bets.
This marked the highest monthly handle for Washington, D.C. since it shifted to an open market last July.
The record total coincided with the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, which were primarily dominated by the top teams. On the men’s side, all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four for the first time since 2008 and just the second time ever.
Meanwhile, the women’s Final Four was comprised of three No. 1 seeds and No. 2 seed UConn, which won its record 12th national championship.
FanDuel Head of the Pack in DC for March
FanDuel led all DC sportsbooks with a $42.5 million handle in March. Customers won $39.2 million in prizes and payouts, resulting in a 7.7% hold for the month.
By comparison, FanDuel paid out $23.2 million the previous month from $27.5 million in bets, which equalled a 15.8% hold.
DraftKings posted the second-highest DC handle for March at $17.8 million, with $16.1 million in prizes and payouts and a 9.6% hold.
Third in line was Caesars, which accepted $10.6 million in wagers. It reported a 1.41% hold behind $10.5 million in prizes and payouts.
BetMGM ($6.9 million handle) and Fanatics ($6 million handle) are the two other online operators in DC.
FanDuel also had the highest number of wagers in March with 1.4 million, ahead of DraftKings (1.1 million). Caesars was third with 280,323 total wagers, followed by Fanatics (189,913) and BetMGM (120,304).
Ever-Changing Landscape
Gambet DC held an online monopoly over DC online betting before the app was shut down in April 2024. GambetDC — which infamously malfunctioned during Super Bowl 56 between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, resulting in a $500,000 settlement with the DC Lottery — was often criticized because of technological glitches and poor odds.
FanDuel, which already ran a retail sportsbook at Audi Field and had marketing agreements with some local professional sports franchises, including the NFL’s Washington Commanders, took over as DC’s official sports gambling app.
City residents could previously only bet on sports via the GambetDC app, physical kiosks, or brick-and-mortar sportsbooks.
In 2023, GambetDC’s final full year of operation, the platform accounted for just 58% of wagers placed in DC. That represented a 10% increase over the previous year but fell short of expectations as the only operator with district-wide mobile sports betting.
