Florida Tightens the Screws on Illegal Online Gambling
By Space Coast Daily // February 26, 2025
Even as the Seminole Tribe celebrates the grand opening of the Brighton Hotel Casino 2.0, it’s not all fun and casino games in the Sunshine State. While more states lobby to legalize online gambling in their states, the Florida Gambling Commission continues to put its foot down on illegal gambling operations.
While Florida still puts the clamps on shutting down illegal gambling on Florida soil, this new crackdown comes against some of the biggest names in offshore gambling. The Florida Gambling Commission is effectively suing Bovada, BetUS, and MyBookie for having their sports betting and online gambling services available to Florida residents.
The concept of offshore casinos became a major phenomenon in the late 2000s with the improvement in broadband internet and enhanced HTML5 graphics. Because online casinos in America were still illegal at this point, many Americans, including Floridians, took to offshore casinos. Being able to play their favorite games at home, 24/7, especially if there is no local casino in the area, continues to be another driving force.
Despite the appeal, the Florida Gambling Commission is calling for an immediate cease-and-desist for these operators, in particular, to terminate availability in Florida. No doubt that a great reason for this sudden crackdown comes from the fact that online sports betting is legal in Florida, specifically organized by the Seminole Tribe in Florida.
Even though Florida has tribally-owned casinos, it continues to have a conflicted history with gambling. There are limited commercial casino operators in The Sunshine State because of the fierce backlash towards organized gambling, even by many of Florida’s politicians.
However, advocates for legal Florida online casinos say that offshore casinos like Bovada can thrive because there aren’t real money options. Having sanctioned online gambling in the Sunshine State could help to keep Floridian tax dollars in the state. The argument that states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania use for legal online casinos is that the tax revenue works to fund critical infrastructure projects.
In the meanwhile, many Floridians turn to offshore casinos and the emerging sweepstakes casinos. The rise of sweepstakes casinos is also raising controversy, especially in states like California and Michigan, because many of the Tribal casino owners claim there is next to oversight.
Florida isn’t alone in cracking down on offshore casinos. Besides Florida, over fifteen states, including Washington DC, have successfully forced Bovada out of their areas.
