Retail Sports Betting Returns to Florida
Sports betting took another turn in Florida over the last week after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay to stop Florida’s Seminole tribe from offering online sports betting. This paves the way for the tribe to begin offering wagering in both a live casino and online environment.
However, justices also noted that the state’s compact with the tribe giving it a monopoly faces serious challenges regarding Florida state law. The tribe faces a challenge at the Florida state supreme court level, but at least can temporarily begin offering sports betting until that legal battle plays out.
On Wednesday, the Seminoles announced the return of retail sports betting at the tribe’s casinos in Florida, but hasn’t outlined a plan for mobile wagering to return.
“The Seminole Tribe thanks the State of Florida, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Department of Justice for defending our compact,” Seminole Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. said. “By working together, the tribe, the state, and the federal government achieved a historic legal victory.”
Supreme Court Clears Way, But Issues Remain
Whether that legal victory makes online sports betting permanent remains to be seen. The plaintiffs, Magic City Casino and the Bonita Springs Poker Room, have challenged the compact’s legality for the last two years.
The casinos argue that the compact violates federal laws and the equal protection clause of the Constitution by giving “an Indian tribe a statewide monopoly to conduct online sports gaming while simultaneously making such conduct a felony if done by anyone of a different race, ancestry, ethnicity or national origin.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared to agree with that assessment, but noted that this issue seems to be a better fit for the Florida supreme court. The issue has faced considerable scrutiny at the federal court level and is now being challenges within state courts.
“To the extent that a separate Florida statute (as distinct from the compact) authorizes the Seminole Tribe — and only the Seminole Tribe — to conduct certain off-reservation gaming operations in Florida, the state law raises serious equal protection issues,” he wrote in an opinion. “But the state law’s constitutionality is not squarely presented in this application.
“The Florida Supreme Court is in any event currently considering state-law issues related to the tribe’s potential off-reservation gaming operations.”
The “off-reservation operations” may be at the heart of the issue. Florida voters passed an initiative in 2018 banning gambling expansion within the state. However, there is a caveat to that – the plan allowed for expansion in “the conduct of casino gambling on tribal lands.”
The state’s compact with the state allowed bettors to make online wagers from across the state as long as servers were located on tribal lands. The state argued that this meant that wagers were placed on tribal lands. How that argument will play with the state supreme court remains to be seen.
Florida Moves Forward With Retail Sports Betting
With the favorable ruling from the Supreme Court, the Seminoles announced plans on Wednesday to launch retail sports betting at its Florida casino properties in December. Along with opening the betting windows at sportsbooks, the properties will also offer craps and roulette. These games were also included as part of the state’s updated compact with the state.
While the Supreme Court ruling allows for online sports betting, the tribe hasn’t announced plans to relaunch its mobile wagering app yet. The state sees the news as a boon to the Sunshine State economy.
“The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s new initiative will create jobs, increase tourism, and provide billions in added revenue for our state,” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said. “I was proud to work with the tribe on our historic gaming compact and I look forward to its full implementation.”
The Seminoles will officially launch craps, roulette, and sports betting on Dec. 7 at all three casinos in south Florida: the Hard Rock in Hollywood; Seminole Classic in Hollywood; and Seminole Coconut Creek. The same games go live on Dec. 8 at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa.
The launch continues on Dec. 11 with the games officially starting at Seminole Casino Immokalee (near Naples) and Seminole Brighton, located on the northwest side of Lake Okeechobee. Tribal leaders are pleased to see the sportsbook openings and new games getting underway, offering the state’s gamblers more options and also adding to the Florida economy.
“With the expansion of the new scope, we are creating over 1,000 new jobs made possible by the compact,” Seminole Gaming CEO and Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen said. “This is an historic milestone that immediately puts Florida in the same league with the world’s great gaming destinations.”
