Judege puts Intralot's DC sports betting domination put on hold

A Washington DC Superior Court Judge slammed the brakes on the District’s recent decision to award a five-year, $215 million, no-bid contract to Intralot to provide sports betting and lottery services. The court imposed a two week pause on the company’s dealings with the District as a the result of a lawsuit filed by Dylan Carragher. Carragher is both a DC resident and a developer of mobile sports betting apps.
At the heart of the issue is the sweetheart, no-bid deal that the city handed the company. That, according to the judge, was a violation of DC’s home rule laws, which require that all city contracts be subject to a bidding process. Judge Joan Zeldon granted the pause due to what she said was the, “high likelihood” that Carragher’s suit would succeed.
Carragher’s lawyer, Donald Temple, commented on the case to the Washington Post saying, “Now the real question is, if it’s illegal, whether the city is going to continue to defend that which is illegal, or are they going to reconcile the illegality of their actions.”
Not everyone in the District, however, agreed. DC Lottery spokesperson Nicole Jordan told the Post, “The major impact of the judge’s ruling will be on the small local businesses that intend to participate and profit from sports wagering.” She also lamented that the ruling could delay the proposed January 2020 launch of DC’s mobile sports betting app.
A similar situation occurred when Intralot was awarded a similar no-bid contract to run DC’s lottery. In that case, the initial contract was revoked and Intralot was forced to win the contract through the competitive process.