The Seminole Tribe plans to launch sports betting in December, but it's uncertain if mobile sportsbooks will be available.
Residents of Florida will be able to legally place bets on sports starting next month at tribal casinos within the state. However, the status of mobile sportsbooks is uncertain.
The Seminole Tribe revealed on Wednesday that they would begin accepting sports bets, as well as offering craps and roulette, at their six Florida casinos starting December 7th. These new offerings are made possible by a revised gaming compact between the tribe and the state that was agreed upon in 2021 but held up in court since then.
This decision comes after the Supreme Court recently confirmed the tribe's right to offer these new activities on their sovereign land.
"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," said Marcellus Osceola Jr., Chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, in a statement. "By working together, the Tribe, the State, and the federal government achieved a historic legal victory."
Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who signed the compact two years ago, welcomed this news, stating that these new games would "create jobs, increase tourism, and provide billions in additional revenue" for Florida.
Mobile Sportsbook's Future Uncertain
The announcement did not mention plans for a mobile sportsbook in Florida, nor did the tribe respond to a request for comment.
The Supreme Court's decision concluded a multi-year federal lawsuit but left the question of whether the tribe can accept mobile sports bets outside of their casinos unanswered. The compact agreed upon in 2021 by DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe allowed for the tribe to operate online sportsbooks accessible anywhere within the state, provided the servers were based on tribal land.
The federal case centered around the role of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees tribal gaming. Interior stated that their approval of the compact extends only to activities taking place on tribal lands, leaving anything else outside of their jurisdiction.
State Resolution
This may imply that the decision rests with the state courts, where opponents of the tribe's sports betting monopoly, spearheaded by pari-mutuel operator West Flagler Associates, are still challenging the compact. West Flagler and its allies argue that the Florida Constitution forbids anyone, including the tribe, from operating an online sportsbook without first presenting the issue to Florida voters. They are asking the Florida Supreme Court to essentially override the governor and state legislature.
DeSantis' office requested an extension to file in the case, and the court has granted an extension until December 1st for the response deadline.
Last week, West Flagler submitted a new notice in the state case, citing Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's reasoning for dismissing the federal case as further evidence for their state claim.
"If the compact authorized the Tribe to conduct off-reservation gaming operations, either directly or by deeming off-reservation gaming operations to somehow be on-reservation, then the compact would likely violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as the District Court explained," Kavanaugh wrote in the quoted excerpt, which West Flagler emphasized.
Six Casinos to Introduce Craps, Roulette, Sportsbooks
The rollout of retail sports betting commences December 7th at three Seminole casinos in South Florida: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood, and Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.
The games then become available at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa the following day. December 11th sees their launch at Seminole Casino Immokalee near Naples and Seminole Brighton Casino on the northwest side of Lake Okeechobee.
Hard Rock estimates these new games will create 1,000 new jobs in Florida.
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Source: www.casino.org
