Florida rivals ask courts to stop online sports gambling off tribal lands
The state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida are raking in millions of dollars from online sports betting, thanks to a compact that gave the tribe exclusive rights to run sports wagers and casino gambling on its reservations
ORLANDO, Fla. — The state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida will be raking 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 run sports wagers as well as casino gambling on its reservations.
But are these online wagers on the outcome of sporting events legally on tribal land, when really only the computer servers are located there, accepting bets made using mobile phones and computers from anywhere in Florida?
That's a question two of the tribe's gaming competitors are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will take up soon and answer with a definitive “no.”
A decision by the nation's highest court would be of “massive importance” for the future of online gaming across the U.S., since leaving in place an appellate ruling in the tribe's favor would set a precedent for other end-runs around state prohibitions against gaming off tribal lands, said the firms, West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corporation, which operate racetracks and poker rooms in Florida.
The companies sued Deb Haaland, secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, which oversees tribal gambling.
The U.S. Supreme Court accepts a tiny percentage of such petitions each year.
The two pari-mutuel firms say the compact signed by the governor and the tribe in 2021 gives the tribe a sports gambling monopoly and creates a “backdoor” way out of the state's requirement, passed by voters in 2018
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