- Florida and the Seminole Tribe have a lucrative pact for exclusive online sports betting and casino gaming.
- The legal challenges question the legality of online sports betting on tribal lands when there are only physically located servers there, allowing bets from anywhere in Florida.
- Competing gaming companies are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against the pact, claiming it circumvents state laws and constitutional requirements.
The state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida will make hundreds of millions of dollars from online sports betting this decade, thanks to a compact between the tribe and Gov. Ron DeSantis that gave the tribe exclusive rights to place sports bets as well. like casino games in your reservations.
But are these online bets legal on the outcome of sporting events on tribal lands, when in reality only computer servers are located there and accept bets placed with cell phones and computers from anywhere in Florida?
That's a question two of the tribe's competitors hope the U.S. Supreme Court will soon answer with a definitive “no.”
FLORIDA GOVERNOR SIGNS SEMINOLE SPORTS BETTING AGREEMENT BILL
A decision from the nation's highest court would be of “great importance” for the future of online gaming across the United States, as leaving in place an appellate ruling in favor of the tribe would set a precedent for other solutions to state bans. against gambling. tribal lands, said firms West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corporation, which operate racetracks and poker rooms in Florida.
The guitar-shaped hotel is seen at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on October 24, 2019, in Hollywood, Florida. The state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida will rake in hundreds of millions of dollars from online sports betting this decade, thanks to a compact between the tribe and Gov. Ron DeSantis that gave the tribe exclusive rights to place sports betting and gaming of casino in your reservations. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
The companies sued Deb Haaland, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees tribal gaming.
The United States Supreme Court accepts a small percentage of these types of petitions each year.
AI-POWERED TECHNOLOGY TO REVOLUTIONIZE SPORTS BETTING THROUGH PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES BASED ON PATTERNS AND INTERESTS
The two pari-mutuel firms say the compact signed by the governor and the tribe in 2021 gives the tribe a monopoly on sports betting and creates a “backdoor” way out of the state requirement, approved by voters in 2018 as an amendment to the Florida Constitution. , that a citizen initiative is needed to expand casino gaming outside of tribal lands.
“Through this artifice, the Compact transparently attempts to circumvent the Florida Constitution,” lawyers for the firms said. “The purpose of the Compact is to provide a hook to circumvent Florida's constitutional requirement for a popular referendum to approve off-reservation sports betting.”
There's big money at stake. The tribe launched its online sports betting operation late last year, and Florida's share of 2024 revenue already exceeds $120 million. State economic forecasters predict that revenue sharing from tribal gaming could total $4.4 billion through the end of this decade.
The pari-mutuel firms also sued DeSantis and leaders of the Florida Legislature, which authorized the pact, in a case pending before the Florida Supreme Court. The tribe argued that the legislature has the authority to decide where online gambling begins and the amendment does not change that.
“The 2021 Compact is a historic agreement between the Tribe and the State that resolved years of disputes,” the Seminole Tribe said in a court filing.
The tribe now numbers about 5,000 members, descendants of Native Americans who survived in the Florida Everglades, resisting federal efforts to remove them in the 19th century. The sovereign tribe operates seven casinos in Florida and owns the Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos business, with locations in 76 countries.
DeSantis' lawyers and legislative leaders argue that sports betting is different from casino gambling and therefore the amendment does not prohibit it. They also note that rivals can get in on the action (and receive a cut of the revenue) by allowing their customers to place bets online from their properties to the tribe's servers.
“As an important source of revenue for both the Seminole Tribe and the state, and even for the tribe's competitors, the 2021 compact serves the public interest and has been upheld in federal court,” attorneys for DeSantis and the legislative leaders to state judges.
$37.5M BETTED IN THE MONTH SINCE LEGAL SPORTS BETTING DEBUT IN MAINE
The pari-mutuel companies' latest petition to the U.S. Supreme Court was filed on Feb. 8, after an appeals panel overturned a federal district court decision in their favor. If the justices do not weigh in, Florida's example could inspire other states to allow tribes to expand online gaming, Daniel Wallach, a South Florida attorney and sports betting law expert, said in a high court brief.
Miami resident Jason Molina recently started betting on sports after a friend found out about it. He says he loves it and has bet on everything from Russian fights to Korean ping pong games.
“It's something new in my world,” Molina said. “It's just a way to get more into the game and be more excited about it.”
