Appeals Court Rejects DC Sports Betting Contract Lawsuit

A DC resident sued the city over the Intralot’s contract. However, an appeals court rejected the DC sports betting contract lawsuit. Dylan Carragher filed the lawsuit in September 2019 because he thought the contract to run the city’s sports betting operation violated DC procurement laws.

A DC Superior Court issued a restraining order against the contract a couple of days after Carragher filed the lawsuit. However, another judge struck down the request for a preliminary injunction in November. The judge found out that DC was within its authority to sign a deal with Intralot.

Carragher filed an appeal. However, the DC Court of Appeals ruled last October 22 that Carragher lacked standing to file the lawsuit. It forwarded the case to the DC Superior Court with the instructions that it should be dismissed for lack of standing.

DC Sports Betting Contract Lawsuit

According to gambling news reports, Carragher said that he had competitor standing because he created an online app for sports and eSports wagering. According to sportsbook pay per head reports, he argued that his app could have been chosen via a competitive procurement process. Also, he said he had municipal taxpayer standing because he’s a resident of the city.

Carragher said that he wanted to launch online sports betting app to make the DC sports wagering market competitive. Based on bookie pay per head sources, the Appeals Court found out that Carragher didn’t suffer any harm because the marketplace didn’t exist.

The Appeals Court sided with the DC government and said that the failure to generate taxes didn’t give Carragher a municipal taxpayer standing. The court ruling added that there was no misappropriation or misuse of municipal taxes.

The only way on how to be a bookie in DC is by replacing Intralot. However, the chance for that is slim because the city will not revoke its contract with the sports betting operator any time soon.