The Best Washington, D.C. Sports Betting Sites

Online sports betting has been legal in Washington, D.C., since early 2019, but participating in sports betting takes a lot of work. Washington, D.C.’s sports betting legislation requires users to use its mobile companion within two blocks of a retail sportsbook. 

There is a city-wide monopoly on online sports betting, leaving residents with severe restrictions on using and accessing the best Washington, D.C. sports betting options.

Participating in Washington, D.C. sports betting is tricky, as only one sportsbook app is legally available throughout the entire district, but users must be at least 18 years old to start.

We’ve reviewed and ranked the three legal sportsbooks in the city that are far superior to GambetDC provided by the D.C. Lottery to help you make the best choice in a restricted marketplace. 

As of publication, there are only four active legal Washington D.C. betting sites, with only a maximum of five possible sportsbooks in the city. The DC Lottery has an issue-plagued official sportsbook app, GamebetDC, which ranks last in the district. 

GamebetDC is designed to monopolize the Washington, D.C. sports betting market as legislation has made it the only sportsbook option available across the entire district.

Fortunately for residents and visitors to the nation’s capital, the three other Washington, D.C. sports betting options are three of the premier sportsbooks in the broader market. Users must be near the companion retail sportsbook to participate in legal online Washington, D.C. sports betting and use one of the three best sportsbooks on the market.

Here is our ranking of the best sportsbooks in Washington, D.C., and each sportsbook’s welcome bonus:

For some Washington, D.C. sports betting players, the geographical restrictions will be the most significant influencing factor in selecting an online betting option. 

Caesars Sportsbook is one of two sportsbooks that are the best in the city and will likely remain as the best in the city. The overall user experience, reward programs, and promotions give Caesars an advantage over the competition. 

Caesars Sportsbook’s live NFL streaming makes Caesars a must-have for NFL fans and live betting enthusiasts. 

If you live closer to Nationals Park or travel out of the city often, BetMGM is an excellent Washington, D.C., betting site. The BetMGM user experience is equally excellent as Caesars and should be a go-to app for all sports betting players in the city.

FanDuel has some of the city’s most unique odds and promotions, while the mobile app has an overall excellent user experience with slight room for improvement. The FanDuel sportsbook gives Washington, D.C. sports betting three excellent online sportsbooks to choose from. 

Smooth, simple, efficient, and easy to use are a few of the ways you can describe the Caesars Sportsbook. The Caesars app is designed by William Hill and is the best sportsbook app for new users and NFL fans.

The BetMGM Sportsbook is designed to be the best on the market and provides users with an easy-to-navigate, all-encompassing, and efficient sportsbook app.

The FanDuel app is excellent and easy to use, but its live betting screen functionality drops its ranking among the best Washington, D.C. sportsbooks. Overall, Fanduel is still an excellent option, despite being ranked last among the three online sportsbooks in the city.

When we review an online sportsbook, we use the same criteria to evaluate each one. We apply the same criteria, ask the same questions, and search for the answers. This gives us the fairest evaluation of each sportsbook and the best reference for our recommendations.

When we review legal Washington, D.C. betting sites, we always keep functionality, fun, and user options as the overarching themes we’re looking for. 

Here are the criteria we use to review each sportsbook:

While we usually explore the fullest extent of each sportsbook’s registration process, Washington, D.C.’s sports betting legislation forces users of the three online sportsbooks to go to the retail location to register for an online sports betting account. The human element makes things more unpredictable for the registration process in Washington. 

To ensure you have the smoothest registration process possible, be prepared with all the personal and financial information required to register that is listed on the sportsbooks website. Having the proper information ready and available will make your individual registration process easier and more efficient.

After access to the sportsbook, we first review the sportsbook’s security protocols and the sportsbook’s original sports betting license. We want to know that your information will be secure if we recommend a sportsbook.

Simply put, If a sportsbook is not secure, we will not recommend it. 

Best in the city: Due to the nature of Washington, D.C.’s sports betting legislation, each of the city’s legal sportsbooks is a very secure option.

We highly value options and variety in different evaluative criteria. Banking is one area where we want to see a wide variety of banking options, giving users as many options as possible to select the Banking method they are most comfortable with.

We want to find PayPal, Skrill, Venmo, bank draft, wire transfer, debit and credit cards, ACH, eChek, and more. We also review deposit and withdrawal minimums and processing times to factor that into our rankings. 

Best in the city: BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook.

We evaluate the user experience throughout our research trip to the sportsbook. We are evaluating various aspects, including general aesthetics, functionality, and function, to create a generally smooth operating user experience that helps create a fun and responsible gambling environment. 

Best in the city: BetMGM, Caesars sportsbook

We give high rankings to sportsbooks with rewards or loyalty programs, excellent welcome offers, and ongoing promotions for existing users. For welcome bonuses, we highly value combination offers, deposit matching, and risk-free bets. 

We want to find special promotions for special sporting events like the FIFA World Cup or NCAA March Madness while having smaller daily promotions and tournaments for users to take advantage of.

Best in the city: Caesars Sportsbook

Functions and functionality are two different things, but the best sports books excel in both aspects. Again, options and variety earn Washington, D.C., sportsbooks a high ranking. 

Before legalizing sports betting, there was no retail betting in Washington, D.C. To protect the city’s market, lawmakers constructed Washington, D.C. sports betting law designating the D.C. Lottery’s sports betting app as the only sports betting app across the district. 

The Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act of 2018 aimed to legalize online sports betting with limitations on third-party sportsbooks. If an outside sportsbook wants to operate in the state, it must partner with a Washington-area sports team and its stadium. 

Online Sportsbook use is restricted geographically to the two-block radius around the sportsbook’s Washington sports arena partner and retail sportsbook.

There are two classes of Washington, D.C., sports betting licenses. Class A pertains to online sports books and sports arena partnerships. Class B licenses permit bars, lounges, taverns, and restaurants to open a retail sportsbook. 

Washington D.C. sports betting legislation only permits a maximum of five online sportsbooks in the district. Only one open license for Washington D.C. sportsbooks remains and is attached to the Washington Mystics and the St. Elizabeths East Entertainments and Sports Arena.

The D.C. Office of Lottery and gaming (D.C. Lottery) operates the GamebetDC sportsbook app, the only mobile sports betting app available anywhere in the district, and is the licensing body of the Washington, D.C. sports betting industry.

The Washington, D.C., sports betting market is taxed at 10%, and there is a 25% tax on all payouts exceeding $5000. Players need to be 18 years of age to participate in Washington, DC, sports betting.

You cannot wager on politics, eSports, entertainment awards, events with a majority of participants under the age of 18, or college sports taking place in the state.