2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 36 - Trade Practices › Chapter 6 - Lottery, Gaming, and Sports Wagering › Subchapter II - Sports Wagering › § 36–621.05. Sports wagering license requirements; prohibition

§ 36–621.05. Sports wagering license requirements; prohibition.
(a)(1) Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, no individual, group of individuals, or entity may engage in an activity connected with sports wagering in the District of Columbia unless all the licenses required by this subchapter, or by regulations issued pursuant to this subchapter, have been duly obtained.
(2) An applicant convicted of a disqualifying offense shall not be licensed. The Office shall define disqualifying offenses by regulations issued pursuant to this subchapter.
(3) An applicant may apply for up to but no more than 2 sports wagering licenses unless that applicant agrees to subcontract with a joint venture or subcontract with a CBE for any additional licenses.".
(b)(1) The Office shall issue the following sports wagering licenses:
(A) Operator;
(B) Management services provider;
(C) Supplier; and
(D) Occupational.
(2)(A) The Office shall not grant any of the licenses listed in paragraph (1) of this subsection until it has determined that each individual, group of individuals, or entity that has control of the applicant has been approved for licensure in accordance with this subchapter.
(B) Each operator's license shall be limited to a single sports wagering facility.
(C) For the purposes of this paragraph, the following individuals, groups of individuals, and entities are considered to have control of an applicant:
(i) An individual, group of individuals, or entity associated with a corporate applicant, including a corporate holding company, parent company, or subsidiary company of the applicant that has the ability to control the activities of the corporate applicant or elect a majority of the board of directors of that corporation, excluding any bank or other licensed lending institution that holds a mortgage or other lien acquired in the ordinary course of business;
(ii) Each individual, group of individuals, or entity associated with a non-corporate applicant that directly or indirectly holds a 5% or greater beneficial or proprietary interest in the applicant's business operation, or that the Office otherwise determines has the ability to control the applicant; and
(iii) Key personnel of an applicant, such as an executive, employee, or agent having the power to exercise significant influence over decisions concerning any part of the applicant's business operation.
(c)(1) An applicant for a license or renewal of a license issued pursuant to this subchapter shall be subject to District, state, and national criminal history background checks and shall submit an application to the Office, in a form determined by the Office, for fingerprints for a national criminal records check by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of all individuals required to be named in the application and a signed authorization of each individual submitting fingerprints for the release of information by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(2) In the case of an application for license renewal, the Office may require additional background checks.
(d) Proprietary information, trade secrets, financial information, or personal information about an individual in an application submitted to the Office pursuant to this subchapter shall not be a public record and shall not be made available under subchapter II of Chapter 5 of Title 2 or any other law.
(e)(1)(A) An operator, licensed supplier, or licensed management services provider shall display its District of Columbia license conspicuously in its sports wagering facility or conspicuously on its mobile application or online and have the license available for inspection by an employee of the Office or law enforcement agency.
(B) When present in a sports wagering facility, an occupational licensee shall carry the license and have some indicia of licensure prominently displayed on his or her person.
(2) An individual, group of individuals, or entity licensed pursuant to this subchapter shall provide the Office written notice of a change to any information provided in the application for a license or renewal of a license within 10 days of the change.
(f) No Office employee may be an applicant for or obtain a license issued pursuant to [this subchapter].
(g) The Office shall only issue an operator license or management services provider license if the applicant:
(1) In conjunction with its application for license, submits to the DSLBD for approval, a CBE plan that demonstrates that at least 35% of the applicant's operating budget will be contracted with one or more CBEs. The CBE plan shall include:
(A) The name and address of each contractor;
(B) A current certification for the CBE;
(C) The scope of work to be performed by each contractor that shall be for a commercially useful function related to sports wagering;
(D) The price to be paid by the beneficiary to each contractor; and
(E) The length of the contract;
(2) Is a certified joint venture pursuant to the CBE act, where the joint venture has a CBE majority interest, and is also certified as either a SBE, DBE, or ROB; or
(3) Obtains a waiver from DSLBD of the contracting or joint venture requirements of the CBE act; provided, that if DSLBD neither approves nor denies the request for waiver within 30 days after the submission of the request, the waiver shall be deemed approved as a matter of law.
(Mar. 10, 1981, D.C. Law 3-172, § 305; as added May 3, 2019, D.C. Law 22-312, § 2(e), 66 DCR 1402; Sept. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 23-16, § 7052(a), 66 DCR 8621; Mar. 22, 2023, D.C. Law 24-332, § 6(a), 70 DCR 1582.)
Applicability
Applicability of D.C. Law 22-312: § 7177 of D.C. Law 23-16 amended § 5(a) of D.C. Law 22-312 to repeal the delayed applicability affecting this section. Therefore the creation of this section by D.C. Law 22-312 has been implemented.
Section 7177 of the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Emergency Amendment Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-91) amended § 5 of D.C. Law 22-312 removing the applicability restriction impacting this section. Therefore the amendment of this section by D.C. Law 22-312 has been given effect.
Applicability of D.C. Law 22-312: § 5 of D.C. Law 22-312 provided that the creation of this section by § 2(e) of D.C. Law 22-312 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7052(a) of Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-112, Sept. 4, 2019, 66 DCR 11964).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7052(a) of Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-91, July 22, 2019, 66 DCR 8497).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 2(a) and 3(a) of the Sports Wagering Lottery Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-47, Apr. 15, 2019, 66 DCR 5301).
For temporary (90 days) creation of this section, see § 2(e) of the Sports Wagering Lottery Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 23-43, Apr. 15, 2019, 66 DCR 5273).
For temporary (90 days) creation of this section, see § 2(e) of the Sports Wagering Lottery Emergency Amendment Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-630, Jan. 30, 2019, 66 DCR 1745).