A lawsuit seeking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from legal sports betting in Washington, D.C., appears to be nearing its end after the city council approved a new budget that effectively nullifies its legal foundation.
Late Monday evening, the D.C. City Council passed the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which includes a provision exempting certain gambling activities — including sports betting, lottery games, blackjack, poker, and bingo — from the centuries-old Statute of Anne. This legislative move leaves little room for a lawsuit brought by DC Gambling Recovery, a Delaware-based group that filed suit earlier this year using that law to target commercial sportsbook operators.
Budget Inclusion Silences Legal Threat
Mayor Muriel Bowser, who initially proposed the changes in her FY2026 budget submission, now only needs to sign the legislation into law. Once that happens, the legal action will be rendered toothless, as the Statute of Anne-based claim no longer applies — retroactively — to the District’s regulated gambling activities.
The amendment to the law saw no debate during the council’s 6.5-hour meeting on July 29, which was dominated by discussions around taxation and minimum wage.
In its current form, the budget not only shields legal gambling operators from future suits under the old English statute but also legalizes in-person blackjack, poker, and bingo across the city.
Historic Law at the Center of Controversy
At the heart of the legal challenge is the Statute of Anne — a 300-year-old English law designed to allow gamblers, or third parties, to sue and reclaim losses from their betting counterparts. While originally aimed at curbing illicit gambling in 18th-century England, the law migrated into U.S. jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., where it has largely remained dormant — until recently.
In February 2025, DC Gambling Recovery filed a lawsuit under this law against five major sportsbook operators — Caesars Sportsbook, BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook — seeking triple damages on an estimated $65.8 million in reported losses by local bettors, potentially totaling $197.4 million.
Industry Pushback and Legislative Intent
The operators have all moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the law was never meant to apply to regulated businesses providing legal sports wagering. Their position has been echoed by industry groups like the iGaming Development and Economic Association (iDEA), which sent a letter to lawmakers backing the budget language.
“Until recently, no one seriously thought that the Statute of Anne would permit third parties to recover purported gambling losses from operators offering sports wagering in compliance with the Sports Wagering Act,” wrote iDEA founder Jeff Ifrah. “Allowing private litigants to profit by imposing exorbitant penalties… would thwart the Council’s carefully considered policy judgment.”
Still, DC Gambling Recovery objected to the retroactive nature of the amendment. In a letter to the council, the group’s legal counsel argued, “It is fundamentally unfair for the council to retroactively attempt to extinguish a private right of action at issue in an ongoing lawsuit brought in the public interest.”
With the D.C. Council’s budget passage and Bowser’s signature all but certain, the District has taken a firm stance: regulated gambling is here to stay, and 18th-century legal relics will no longer dictate modern policy.
Source:
“DC Gambling Recovery Lawsuit All But Dead After Council Approves Budget” ingame.com, Jul 29, 2025
The post DC Budget Approval Dooms Gambling Loss Recovery Lawsuit first appeared on RealMoneyAction.com.