Betting on the Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a very important part of the District of Columbia’s vibrant professional sports scene. They represent the NBA as one of four major pro teams in the area. The Wizards play their home games at Capital One Arena which also offers a retail sportsbook.
Washington Wizards Team Overview
The roots of this popular NBA Eastern Conference franchise date back to 1961 with the Chicago Packers joining the league. Two years later, the team moved to Baltimore and became known as the Bullets.
Following a 10-year run in Baltimore, the Bullets moved to nearby Washington DC ahead of the 1973/1974 NBA season. The Washington Bullets won their first NBA Championship in 1978 with a 4-3 series victory over the Seattle SuperSonics. Those same two teams advanced to the NBA Finals in 1979 with Seattle coming away with the 4-1 series win.
The team’s marquee player during those back-to-back runs to the championship series was Elvin Hayes. He played seven seasons in Washington from 1973 through the 1980/1981 campaign.
In 1997, Washington decided to move on from the Bullets as a somewhat controversial team name to the more fan-friendly Wizards. However, that did not necessarily help the cause in the postseason with more than a few early exits from the playoffs.
The team’s top player in recent seasons has been Bradley Beal. Since coming into the league in 2012, he has spent his entire career with the Wizards.
Playing in the NBA’s Southeast Division, Washington’s natural rivalries include the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. Although, the team’s close proximity to Philadelphia and New York have sparked some heated matchups against those city’s NBA teams.
As an East Coast pro sports franchise, there is some strong interest in the Wizards from a betting standpoint. Using the NBA point spread as a betting example, bets could be placed on Washington as four-point home favorites at Capital One Arena.
A wager of that nature would be graded as a winner if the Wizards win at home by more than four points.
Betting on the Washington Wizards in the District of Columbia
Sports betting in the District of Columbia has been legal since 2020. This includes both retail sportsbooks and online mobile betting.
Washington Wizards’ fans can legally bet the games online through GamebetDC as part of the DC Lottery. Major US mobile operators BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook are available on a limited basis. This was made possible through partnerships with professional sports venues like Nationals Park and Capital One Arena.
Updated on: 03/26/2023
New players only, 21+. Available in AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, MD, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY only. Full T&C apply.
Washington Wizards Partnership With Sportsbooks
Capital One Arena has a sports betting partnership with Caesars Sportsbook through Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE). First opened as William Hill Sportsbook in June of 2021, this was the first professional sports arena in the US to offer legal sports betting.
Despite the fact that the Wizards are owned by MSE, they do not have a specific team sportsbook partnership in place with Caesars at this time.
