Intralot Could Get Washington Exclusive Gambling Contract

It’s 2019 and the world has moved steadily forward and yet despite that it appears that nepotism could still exist in Washington D.C. Despite there being certain controls in place to prevent there being any institutional favoritism, it seems that there is a chance of it happening in the sports gambling industry within the capital city.

According to an article which was published in The Washington Post, officials in Washington are proposing to issue a huge gambling contract to just one company. The contract would offer the business the chance to manage several online sports gambling, as well as the lottery It is being reported as a deal that would “benefit several politically connected individuals as well as executives of a company that the city ousted from running a homeless shelter.”

The D.C council and the city’s mayor, Muriel E Bowser, have both given officials the approval to forgo previously established procurement rules. Under these guidelines, the gaming contract would have been awarded to Intralot.

It’s not something that should come as a huge surprise, as rumours of such a move first surfaced in 2018 but were quickly dropped thanks to a mass backlash. This anger forced DC to reconsider and eventually, it stated that it would move forward with the previously used bidding process.

However, the city then changed it’s mind again, stating that it was essential for a deal to be put in place as quickly as was possible. It was argued that a speedy decision was important for the city to remain a competitive aspect of the sport gambling industry. With this in mind, the city’s chief financial officer, Jeffrey S. DeWitt, has moved for the five-year contract to be awarded to Intralot. The proposal has been submitted to the D.C council for consideration.

Through this contract and under Intralot, seven other companies would serve as subcontractors giving them access to a share of the $125million contract. Despite the ethical concerns that have been raised about him, Emmanuel Bailey, who currently oversees the D.C lottery, would be one of the sports gambling subcontractors. Furthermore, a law firm that Bailey brought in during the initial sports gambling discussion, is also believed to be another one of the contracts.

Controversy has particularly risen over the fact that District Services Management have also been included on the contract. This is the company that faced substantial criticism and the loss of contracts, due to concern over how it had handled and managed a homeless shelter and subsidized housing issues.

There has also been speculation that Mark Jones could also be a subcontractor under Intralot. Jones has been a major part of the D.C political landscape for decades, having previously served as a Representative on the D.C. state board of education. In addition, in the 1990s he was the deputy director of the D.C. lottery. However, whilst The Post did speculate that he could be involved, they were not able to confirm in what position that could be.

It is expected that the D.C. Council will now review the proposed contract and offer a decision by the 25th of July.