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14 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 Paul Jason: The DC Lottery serves as both regulator, license admin- istrator, and operator of sports betting. Could you explain the District’s sports betting regulatory model. Beth Bresnahan: It is a unique structure compared to other U.S. jurisdictions that have legalized sports betting. On December 18, 2018, the Council of the District of Columbia passed the Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act of 2018 which legalized sports betting in the District and named the Office of Lottery and Gaming as both the regulator of private-operated sports book facilities and as an operator of its own sports book offered via the DC Lottery brand. This legislation cleared congressional review and became law on May 3, 2019. The legislation also changed our formal name from the Office of Lottery and Charitable Gaming to the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) to reflect our newly-expanded role. DC Lottery is the brand under which the OLG markets and sells its games. The statute is fairly complex as there are two classes of private operator licenses (Class A and Class B) that we are responsible for licensing and monitoring for operational compliance, as well as establishes and codifies several areas where betting activity is restricted. The statute dictates that Class A Operator licenses may be issued at four designated stadiums and arenas in the District – Audi Field, Capital One Arena, Nationals Park and St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena. Class A Operators may conduct sports betting independently or in conjunction with a licensed Management Services Provider (another license type) to run the sports book operation. There is a 2-block exclusionary zone around each of the Class A facilities where no sports wagering activities can be licensed. The Class A facilities can run their mobile app within their 2-block zones, but the DC Lottery app is restricted from operating within it. A Class A license is valid for 5 years and the initial fee is $500,000. We issued the first Class A license on July 31, 2020 to American Wagering, Inc. (doing business as William Hill) for a sportsbook at Capital One Area – home of the Washington Capitals and the Washington Wizards. There are two additional Class A applicants in varied stages of the licensing process. Like Class A Operators, a Class B Operator may apply to conduct its sportsbook operations independently or in conjunction with a licensed Management Services Provider. There is no restriction on the type of business a Class B Operator can be (could be a bar, restaurant or hotel setting as just a few examples). There is no designation where a Class B facility must be located. However, it is important to note PGRI INTERVIEWS EXPANDING INTO SPORTS BETTING AND ILOTTERY DURING TURBULENT TIMES Beth Bresnahan, Executive Director, DC Office of Lottery and Gaming (DC Lottery) PGRI Introduction: 2020 has been a most turbulent year for everyone, but perhaps even more so for the DC Lot- tery which launched sports betting in the midst of a near global event shutdown and had to contend with a major drop-off of its primary player-base of commuter traffic. Thankfully, the Director of the DC Lottery brings a wealth and diversity of experience to the task of leading in these challenging times. Prior to her appointment as Execu- tive Director of the DC Lottery, Beth served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Lottery, recognized for its status as the highest per-capita sales jurisdiction in the world. That assignment followed a suc- cessful tenure as Director of Marketing and Communications. Sales at the Massachu- setts Lottery increased every year during Beth’s five years of senior management, breaking the $5 billion mark in her last year of leadership there. And now, the DC Lottery is on a tear. In spite of pandemic, 2020 has been an eventful year of implementing new game categories and opening up new channels of distribution, like internet and Mobile. I asked Director Bresnahan to provide some insight and color to the interesting set of challenges and opportunities incumbent with managing both traditional games and GambetDC, the DC Lottery’s sports betting app, and now launching iLottery right on the heels of sports- betting. Continued on page 42