No More Florida Sports Betting After Judge Rules for Gaming House

By Matt Speakman,
Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

Matt Speakman Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

A die-hard fan of the Patriots, Matt Speakman is an expert on everything related to sports betting and DFS sites. Over the years, he has proven a valuable asset for our team at online-gambling.com. You can find Speakman's professional tips and tricks in any of his many articles on the website.

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Last updated: December 4, 2021

A federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled closing legal sports betting in Florida a few days ago.

The result is a blow to the Seminole Tribe because they have a controversial deal with the state to monopolize sports betting.

The ruling means that betting on sports adopted by the new Seminoles Compact is no longer allowed in Florida, but, likely, the Seminoles will immediately appeal and request a stay of the decision.

On merit, it is a fair decision that the IGRA only allows betting on sports on Indian soil, wrote Judge Dobby Frederick. These requirements have derived from IGRA § 2710 (d) (8) (a) and 25 U.S.C. § 2710(d)(8)(A), which permits the Secretary to approve agreements that control game betting on Indian soil.

In IGRA § 2710 (d) (1), the conditions are present under which class III gaming activities are legal in the territory of India, ID § 2710 (d) (1). Overall, the IGRA regulates gaming on more than a dozen Indian territories, and no one else governs gaming. If there is any doubt in this matter, the Supreme Court has emphasized that everything in IGRA – everything – provides the means to regulate gaming on Indian soil and nowhere else, Mr. Mills, 572 U.S, 795″.

Since the judge has vacated the entire contract, the Seminoles will not move forward with the retail game expansion to include crepes and roulette in the clan retail offerings. Under the new agreement, the tribe will pay the state 2.5 billion over five years, but that money is lost.

The Seminoles Request for Intervention Rejected

Searching for the plaintiffs, Frederick rejected the Seminole motion to intervene in the case. In contrast, a federal judge in North Florida dismissed a similar lawsuit, saying the same plaintiffs were not proper.

The agreement has been the subject of nationwide debate since the clan, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis agreed that the digital bet would consider settled if the digital betting runs through a server on tribal land.

You did not need a master’s degree to know that you will summon to court, said Rep. Sam Garrison. Secretary Deb Hollande allowed the agreement to consider ratified, meaning he approved it but took no action during the 45-day review window.

The Court Cannot Accept This Story

On November 5, Frederick heard Justice Department arguments from the Haaland and DeSantis and the West Flagler Associations and the Bonita Fort Myers Association. 

At the time, the Justice Department was not prepared to discuss the case, and Frederick reprimanded the lawyers but gave them four more days to present written arguments on the merits, which he did not explicitly accept.

Instant Compact seeks to allow betting in sports inside and outside Indian territory. In its own words, the agreement permits such bets to be made by consumers physically located in Florida but not in the tribal Indian territory.

Friedrich said that if federal law allows doing an activity in a region, the parties cannot acknowledge the extent to which the action takes place where the act does not take place.

Frederick said that the Netherlands should never have let go of the agreement because it had violated the IGRA.

Could Sports Betting Be Legalized Again?

Much legal community believed that Frederick would follow suit with his North Florida Territory counterpart and dismiss the case based on position. Two law professors told Sports Handle earlier this month that the chances of success in the case were slim, with one calling the case “dead on arrival.”

Frederick noted that sports betting could be legalized either through a new agreement or a “civic initiative.”

A political committee funded by DraftKings and FanDuel is collecting signatures for an initiative that would allow digital betting across Indian territory and beyond. Both DraftKings and FanDuel have popular betting apps and would both benefit if the committee succeeds. The committee has until early next year to submit the 891,589 signatures required to join the ballot. Till Monday night, 116,123 signatures, are verified, and this November, the committee said it had collected more than 350,000 signatures.