Washington DC has entered the US iGaming conversation in forceful fashion, with Councilmember Wendell Felder introducing legislation on April 9 that would simultaneously create a regulated real-money online casino market in the nation’s capital and impose an outright ban on the sweepstakes casino model that has proliferated across America in a legally ambiguous grey zone.
The bill, formally titled the Internet Gaming and Consumer Protection Act of 2026 and designated B26-0656, has been referred to the Committee on Human Services with a public hearing already scheduled for late April, a timeline that indicates genuine legislative momentum rather than the kind of introductory gesture that often dies quietly in committee.
“iGaming, online casino-style games such as blackjack, poker, roulette, and slot-style games played on mobile devices or computers, is already accessible to District residents through unregulated and offshore platforms,” Felder wrote when introducing the legislation, making the case that the status quo is already a functioning but entirely uncontrolled gambling market.
“In the absence of a legal framework, these platforms operate without meaningful consumer safeguards, age verification, or regulatory oversight, creating risks for residents and limiting the District’s ability to capture revenue that belongs here,” he added, framing the bill as a consumer protection measure as much as a revenue instrument.
The proposed regulatory structure is detailed and demanding, with licensed operators required to pay a $2 million initial licence fee for a five-year term, $500,000 for renewals, a 25 percent gross gaming revenue tax and a requirement to direct at least 35 percent of their operational budgets towards DC-based businesses, terms that are among the more stringent in any jurisdiction to have legalised iGaming in recent years.
The sweepstakes section of the bill is where the legislation departs most aggressively from anything previously attempted, defining sweepstakes gaming broadly enough to capture the dual-currency model used by virtually every major platform currently serving DC residents, and empowering the Office of Lottery and Gaming to issue cease-and-desist orders and the Attorney General to bring enforcement actions carrying fines of up to $100,000 per violation and $500,000 for repeat offenders.
California banned sweepstakes casinos effective January 1, 2026, removing roughly 20 percent of the sector’s US revenue in a single legislative act, and Indiana, Maine, New Jersey and several other states have followed with their own prohibitions, meaning the sweepstakes industry is already operating under sustained attack on multiple fronts heading into a year that may prove transformational for the entire category.
The American Gaming Association has estimated that sweepstakes platforms captured more than $6 billion in gross gaming revenue in 2025 without contributing a dollar in state taxation, a figure that has become a central argument for licensed operators and regulators alike when making the case for prohibition.
For operators like FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM, who are already live in DC’s sports betting market, the bill represents a significant commercial opportunity on two levels, offering both a new casino product category and the effective elimination of an unregulated competitor that has been taking market share without any of the licensing costs or compliance obligations that licensed operators carry.
The minimum gambling age under the bill would be set at 21, one of the stricter standards applied in any US gaming market, and operators would be required to implement a full suite of responsible gambling tools including loss limits, session time caps, self-exclusion programmes and cool-off periods, reflecting a regulatory philosophy that is increasingly shaping how US states and territories approach iGaming authorisation.
The DC Council operates year-round rather than on a fixed legislative session, which removes some of the deadline pressure that has derailed similar bills in states like Virginia and Maryland, though the legislation will still face scrutiny from sweepstakes industry lobbyists who have already deployed significant resources to resist bans in other jurisdictions and are unlikely to concede the DC market without a fight.
Congress retains the ability to review and potentially overturn DC Council legislation given the District’s unique constitutional status, adding a layer of federal uncertainty that does not exist in any of the nine states that have already legalised iGaming, and that uncertainty may weigh on operators considering early-stage investment in DC market preparation before the bill reaches final passage.
