The Future of Betting in Florida
By Space Coast Daily // January 3, 2024
When most discuss gambling in the US, Nevada, and New Jersey, of course, get talked about as the nation’s top hotbeds.
Then, Pennsylvania and Michigan come next, with Florida often getting mentioned in most people’s top five American gaming regions. That perception about the Sunshine State exists on account of the massive Seminole-owned casinos, such as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casinos in Hollywood and Tampa, the Classic, also in Hollywood, and the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek. Naturally, loads of racinos complement the gambling offer that the mentioned venues on Native land supply.
However, commercial non-tribal casinos, online sites, and sports betting have traditionally not gotten much traction in Florida. Yet, regarding wagering on sporting events, that has recently changed as Seminole’s establishments just opened sportsbook lounges, officially announcing that betting has gone live in Southwest Florida. The string of debuts ended with the Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee launching its sports section via a party that features multiple celebrities, including UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz and NFL legend Edgerrin James.
So, as of mid-December 2023, all six Seminole-controlled gaming properties in the state now offer betting fun. Nevertheless, only one sportsbook app is currently active. That is the Seminole’s Hard Rock Bet application. Other renowned betting operators that dominate the US landscape, such as FanDuel and DraftKings, are not yet able to enter the Florida market.
Though, it should get said that despite these developments, some parties are hopeful that courts will still step into kibosh online wagering in America’s favorite retirement destination. Therefore, we go more into the past of betting in the state to help unravel what the future may bring for this sector.
The Emergence of Sports Betting in Florida
As most gambling fanatics know, sports betting in the US enjoyed a federal ban everywhere except Nevada until a 2018 Supreme Court ruling found that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is no longer valid. That allowed US states to decide how they feel about allowing their citizens to wager on sporting events. Now, close to forty territories in the United States have made this a reality for their residents.
Regarding Florida, in 2021, after three years of legal battles, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Seminoles reached an agreement (a compact) that established the tribe has exclusive rights to operate betting, craps, and roulette games in the state. A 2018 rewind is mandatory to grasp the situation today, a time when the Seminole tribe secured control over betting through their support for Amendment 3. That move rendered it impossible for anyone else to legalize this practice without the involvement of the tribe.
Yet, Florida’s foray into betting encountered a hurdle as the DC Court of Appeals prolonged a period of uncertainty, deliberating on potential violations of the cited Florida Seminole Gaming Compact. The verdict, delivered on June 30, 2023, marked a turning point. It reinstated the previously disputed legality of online sports betting in Florida.
Amid this uncertainty, the tribe launched the Hard Rock app in November 2021, only to face multiple federal challenges. These led to the software’s discontinuation a month later. The app came back in November 2021. Available for download on all smart devices. You can find it on Google Play.
What Will Happened Going Forward
It goes without saying that many parties want to stop the tribal monopoly of betting in Florida. That is why there are fourteen court cases running simultaneously in the State Supreme Court, as pari-mutuel operators are trying to get in on this section of Florida’s gambling industry. Nonetheless, the ongoing lawsuits/appeals will probably not yield results until the end of 2024. And, according to most, it is unlikely that the pari-mutuel operators will be successful in their bid.
Many Florida gamblers have also expressed concerns about the current state of affairs regarding betting in the state. Particularly the Hard Rock Bet app, which does not face the same level of regulation that New Jersey ones get through the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement or British apps and UK sports betting sites enjoy via the UK Gambling Commission. The UKGC gets considered the strictest regulator in Europe, and the DGE has the same rep in the US.
Comparably, the Hard Rock Bet App gets licensed and overseen by the Seminole Tribal Gaming Commission, which is nowhere as strict as the cited bodies. Hence, this is an ongoing concern for some.
