$100 MILLION+/YEAR FOR DC PRIORITIES
Washington, D.C. is facing a revenue crisis that threatens funding for schools, affordable housing, and other essential services. Legalizing iGaming would deliver $63 million in new revenue in year one and more than $100 million annually by year three — plus at least $14 million in immediate licensing fees — all without raising taxes on residents.
Every day, DC residents are accessing online casino platforms that operate outside District law, with no local tax contribution, no enforceable age verification standards, and no responsible gaming requirements.
A legal framework would regulate this activity, require strict age verification and consumer safeguards, and direct new revenue to DC schools, affordable housing, and essential services across all eight wards.
WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS
New Jersey legalized iGaming in 2013 and sports betting in 2018. Its problem gambling rate was 6.3% in 2017. By 2023, it had dropped to 5.6%, despite revenue growth and an expanding legal market.
Pennsylvania data also shows exclusively online bettors carry lower risk than exclusively in-person gamblers.
Decades of research show expanded legal gaming does not lead to sustained increases in problem gambling prevalence. Instead, legalization gives jurisdictions the oversight, consumer protections, and responsible gaming tools that illegal offshore sites simply do not provide.
Data released last year from the NCPG confirms problem gambling rates are declining, not rising, as legal online sports betting and casino gaming expand. Problem gambling rates have decreased to pre-pandemic levels, suggesting the temporary increase in problematic play was driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Council on Problem Gambling
National Survey on Gambling Attitudes and Gambling Experiences (2024)
Spectrum Gaming Group found that in states with legal iGaming, 50% of revenue came from players who had previously used unregulated sites and 20% came from consumers who had been playing legally in other states. Only 30% came from new players.
A study from Canada’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario confirms the trend: unregulated sites accounted for an estimated 70% of online gaming before Ontario legalized in 2022, and three years later, more than 83% of online gamblers chose regulated platforms.
Spectrum Gaming Group; Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
Online Casino Games
Unregulated online casino platforms are exploding in popularity across the United States. A recent Washington Post investigation detailed how unregulated iGaming platforms – like Chumba (VGW), Stake, and WOW – evade U.S. gaming laws and safeguards that prevent minors from gaining access and dodge billions in tax revenue that states could use to fund important priorities.
LATEST NEWS
Many sites do not have strong identity verification and are able to advertise on social media with little oversight. Tech-savvy young people in the United States can gamble on them using false identities and readily available software to mask their locations, often unbeknownst to their parents
By last year, was collecting $1.05 billion in taxes from digital casinos, compared with $188 million from sportsbook apps. The revenue from casino games is significant: Pennsylvania’s entire state budget is about $50 billion
"States are losing out by keeping this activity — that is already occurring within their borders — in the shadows.
BBB study finds consumers confused, upset amid hundreds of unlicensed and unverified casinos and sportsbooks
In the eyes of many gaming corporations, not to mention lawsuit plaintiffs and state regulators, sweepstakes casinos act as traditional casinos, only without the oversight, consumer protections and tax laws
Millions of Americans are betting real money on online casino games marketed as “sweepstakes.” Users, regulators and the casino industry are fighting back