Get A Grip: The Week In Sports Betting: Ohio, D.C, Colorado, More

It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not time enough to sleep and eat and stay fully apprised of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours (two out of three ain’t bad).

Here’s the weekend Sports Handle item, “Get a Grip,” recapping the week’s top stories and rounding up key stories in sports betting, gaming, and the world of sports at large. You may have missed them, and they are worth reading.

More drama in D.C.

The latest chapter in Washington, D.C.’s quest for live, legal sports betting involves a local sports betting app developer filing suit against the city, claiming it was illegal for the D.C. Council and Lottery to offer its sports betting contract to current Lottery vendor Intralot without seeking other bids.

According to WTOP, Dylan Gallagher on Tuesday filed a complaint in D.C. Superior Court.

“The city needs to follow its procurement laws, certainly, and the process should be competitive and open,” Donald Temple, an attorney representing Carragher, told WTOP. “That would allow not only our client, but others who own sports bars and others like that, to compete in the marketplace for what is going to be a very lucrative business opportunity.”

Gallagher’s complaint may not be the only one. Council Member Elissa Silverman, who has long been opposed to the details of D.C.’s new sports betting law and the Council’s decision not to seek bids, has apparently contacted the District’s Attorney General to see if the sports betting contract with Intralot can be voided.

The D.C. Council passed sports betting in mid-December, giving the D.C. Lottery a virtual monopoly over mobile sports betting in the district. Two months later, it agreed to contract with Intralot, forgo other proposals through an RFP process. Since then, at least one Council member has been accused of impropriety surrounding sports betting, and questions have arisen about the validity of the vendors sub-contracted by Intralot.

Ballot box

In November, Coloradans will have the chance to legalize sports betting. Proposition DD would legalize betting on college and professional sports at three physical locations across the state, as well as mobile apps tethered to those locations. Any revenue is earmarked to fund the state’s water plan. But don’t expect tax revenue to be too stunning — two different looks at potential revenue project up to $16 mm a year. According to the Colorado Sun, the state’s voter guide projects $16 mm in each of the first five years of legal sports betting, but a legislative fiscal analysis puts that number lower, between $5-$15 mm in each of the first three years.

Here’s what voters will be asked in November:

Shall state taxes be increased by twenty-nine million dollars annually to fund state water projects and commitments and to pay for the regulation of sports betting through licensed casinos by authorizing a tax on sports betting of ten percent of net sports betting proceeds, and to impose the tax on persons licensed to conduct sports betting operations?