The D.C. Lottery wants the D.C. Council to approve a bill that would allow the agency to negotiate a new contract with its current vendor, circumventing an open procurement process and ensuring the city gets a sports betting platform before its neighbors.
But not everyone supports the proposed sole-source contract with Intralot, an international gaming company. At a sometimes contentious hearing Monday before the council’s Committee on Finance and Revenue, a handful of witnesses said they oppose the bill and questioned a study the city commissioned to show the benefits of acting fast.
Intralot currently operates the D.C. Lottery’s gaming system under a $7 million annual contract that expires in May 2020.
D.C. CFO Jeffrey DeWitt, whose office oversees the revenue-generating lottery agency, testified that the D.C. Lottery planned to seek bids for a new contract in an open procurement, but the agency’s plans changed when the D.C. Council approved sports betting in December. He said officials decided it was crucial to get the city’s sports gaming system up and running as quickly as possible, because both Maryland and Virginia were considering their own sports betting measures.
“We have to have a contractor or operator to do that,” DeWitt told the panel. “We need someone who’s got experience in sports gaming and that can provide that equipment, set the bets [and] cover the losses.”