DC sports wagering operator bonds.
From $100. Enter your amount.
The District conditions a sports wagering Operator License on a bond. Under D.C. Code § 36-621.06(d) an operator “shall be bonded, in such amounts and in such manner as determined by the Office,” and the Office of Lottery and Gaming fixes the opening figure in its rules: 50% of the estimated tax revenue the applicant must disclose for the proposed facility, adjustable semi-annually against actual revenue. The premium is 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, and the application collects no credit information.
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Apply to filed in one sitting.
The bond is one attachment in a heavy licensure file — it should not be the thing that holds it up. Here is the whole process:
Apply online
Your company details, the bond amount the Office has set for the facility, and an effective date. That is the entire application.
Issued
The application collects no credit information, and most applications approve instantly. Because operator bonds run large, a seven-figure amount may draw a brief underwriter review and a request for company financials — if a check ever runs, it is a soft pull, never a hard inquiry.
File with the Office
Submit the executed bond with your Operator License application, renewal, or semi-annual adjustment. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the operator bond actually guarantees
Sports wagering in the District runs under the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG), with privately-operated wagering governed by chapter 21 of Title 30 DCMR. The rules split operators in two: a Class A Operator runs a sportsbook at one of four named venues — Capital One Arena, Audi Field, Nationals Park, or the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena — while a Class B Operator is licensed elsewhere in the District and is barred from operating within two blocks of those same four venues.
Both classes carry the same bonding condition, at § 2101.6 for Class A and § 2102.5 for Class B: as a condition of licensure the operator shall be bonded in such amounts and manner as the Office determines, and agree in writing to indemnify and save harmless the District against any actions, claims, and demands the District may incur by reason of issuing the licence. The initial bond amount is 50% of the amount the applicant must disclose under D.C. Code § 36-621.06(a)(1)(F) — the estimated tax revenue the proposed facility will generate — and the Executive Director may adjust the required amount semi-annually, based on actual tax revenue.
So the number tracks the District’s tax exposure, not your handle. A licence runs five years and is renewable for successive five-year periods, which means the bond is a long-lived obligation you will re-paper more than once as the Office re-sets it. Keep it distinct from the separate reserve requirement in § 2117, which makes an operator hold not less than the greater of $25,000 or the sum of player account balances, unsettled wagers, and unpaid winnings — a bond used for that reserve must be written by a bona fide insurance carrier. Neither is insurance for the operator: if the surety pays, the operator repays the surety.
You need this bond if you are
One application, then a quick review.
These are the actual issuing fields — company details, the bond amount the Office set, and an effective date. There is no credit section; because operator bonds run large, a seven-figure amount may draw a brief underwriter review first.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other District of Columbia bonds.
Do not let the bond hold up the licence file.
From $100, no credit section, and most operator bonds issue as soon as you pay. Enter the amount the Office set and file it with your application. Free until issued.