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OLG: commercial bingo rules nearing publication; at least one potential operator scouting large venues
Summary
OLG told the committee that rules to implement commercial bingo are in legal review and expected soon; staff said one potential commercial bingo applicant was searching for large warehouse-style venues (~25,000 sq ft) and distinguished those proposals from pop-up events that were entertainment shows rather than regulated bingo.
Committee members asked OLG about the status of rules to implement recently passed commercial bingo legislation. Agency counsel and Peter Alvarado, Director of Regulation and Oversight, said regulatory language has been drafted, is in legal review, and should be filed in the District of Columbia Register soon. Alvarado said OLG had outreach from a potential commercial-bingo applicant but that such operations typically require large venues (he estimated a visited Maryland facility at about 25,000 square feet), making it challenging to find suitable sites within the District.
Alvarado also described several pop-up events called "bingo" that OLG reviewed and concluded were talent-show style events rather than regulated bingo; the agency contacted organizers and determined the events did not meet the statutory definition of bingo and therefore did not fall under OLG's commercial-bingo oversight. OLG said it will await the rules before accepting formal commercial-bingo applications.
