In a 33-page motion, attorneys for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Julie Brown recently argued U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor should dismiss a lawsuit filed by two parimutuels challenging the new 30-year Seminole Compact. Tribal attorneys filed court documents seeking dismissal of the case on the same day.
Owners of the parimutuels Magic City Casino in Miami-Dade County and Bonita Springs Poker Room in Southwest Florida filed the lawsuit in July. Under the compact, the Seminole Tribe can operate sports betting, with wagers run through servers on tribal property and bettors located anywhere in the state. The tribe would contract with parimutuels to help market sports betting, which would generate some revenue for the parimutuels, DeSantis administration attorneys said.
In their motion to dismiss, DeSantis administration attorneys noted parimutuels do not have legal standing to challenge the compact because they have not shown that they would be harmed. The motion stated, “To satisfy the fundamental requirements of standing, plaintiffs must allege a concrete and particularized injury caused by the defendants−one which affects each plaintiff in an individual way and which is real, and not abstract, hypothetical or speculative. Plaintiffs acknowledge that they have the option to participate in the online sports betting component by marketing the tribe’s sportsbook and receiving 60 percent of the profit.”
However, in an amended version of the lawsuit filed in August, the parimutuels noted, “The 2021 compact will significantly harm plaintiffs’ businesses by introducing online gaming into Florida and granting the tribe the exclusive right to engage in it. As a result, anyone physically located in Florida, including plaintiffs’ customers, will be able to engage in sports betting online with the tribe from their home or from any Florida location where they have access to an internet connection. This approval will therefore have a significant and potentially devastating competitive impact on plaintiffs and the brick-and-mortar businesses who depend for their profits on individuals coming into their businesses to engage in gaming activities.”
The lawsuit also alleges the sports-betting portion of the compact violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act because bets would be placed by people off tribal lands. The lawsuit stated, “The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act restricts tribal gaming to ‘Indian lands,’ which are either Indian reservations or lands held in trust by the United States for the benefit of a federally recognized Indian tribe. Importantly, the IGRA does not authorize tribal gaming outside of Indian lands unless there is an applicable exception. No exception applies here.”
The DeSantis administration attorneys disagreed with that interpretation of the IGRA. In their motion, they wrote, “Plaintiffs contend that Indian tribes are never permitted to offer gaming activities to patrons who are physically located off their Indian lands. This is not so.” They noted the U.S. Department of the Interior approved the Seminole Compact in August. The parimutuel owners filed a separate lawsuit in Washington, D.C., against the Interior Department and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
Under the 30-year deal, the Seminoles will pay Florida about $20 billion, including $2.5 billion over the first five years. The compact also allows the tribe to offer roulette and craps at their casinos.
