The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) proposed updates to federal regulation of Class III tribal-state gaming compacts possibly could cancel two Florida parimutuels’ lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and allow the Seminole Tribe to offer online sports betting and casino games statewide.
The proposed rules also could let tribes buy land, put it in federal trust, build a casino and offer online gambling without paying any state taxes.
A tribal gaming attorney told Sports Handle, “I see this as fixing the whole thing. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act only governs on tribal lands, so this appears to be intended to fix that lawsuit. The Seminoles and others likely brought a lot of resources to seek these changes. If these changes go through, it likely would permit them to offer wagering off reservation under the compact they negotiated with the state of Florida.”
He added, “Tribes could possibly offer mobile gambling throughout the state without a commercial license. They’d still need a compact. These proposed rule changes could be challenged procedurally and for substantive grounds. There have been many efforts over the years to try and amend IGRA, but those efforts have not succeeded.”
The recently closed public comment period on the proposed changes attracted 16 commenters, including casino operators and tribes. Among them was the Seminole Tribe, which submitted 12 pages of comments supporting the proposed changes. The tribe wrote the “compact provisions allocated jurisdiction are permissible under IGRA when the parties are allocating jurisdiction over activities directly related to gaming activities on Indian lands.”
The tribe added it believes remote wagering “is also clearly authorized by IGRA and is fully consistent with IGRA’s provisions allowing states and tribes to negotiate over the allocation of jurisdiction” and stated the new rules could clarify that position.
The new regulations may not be formalized for several months. Another public comment period may be held on any proposed revisions and approved rules must be published in the Federal Register for 30 days before becoming active. Litigation from the commercial sector also is a possibility.
James Lewis, an associate at Duane Morris LLP, told Sports Handle, “Let’s just assume that if the proposed new regulations were to pass and clear all judicial hurdles, it means tribes won’t need to apply for state licenses to conduct mobile gambling in states where it’s legal. Right now, under IGRA, tribes are disadvantaged by state regulation of mobile gambling, because the gambling must occur completely on Indian lands or it’s subject to state law versus on state lands.”
Lewis continued, IGRA attempts “to control the expansion of Indian gaming. By its own provisions, there’s an argument that IGRA was intended to freeze gaming as it was in 1988.”
Observers noted technology has changed dramatically since then and the authors of IGRA could not imagine internet gaming. But, according to the posting in the Federal Register, “the overwhelming majority of commenters agreed that the department should include provisions relating to iGaming.” One commenter wrote the new regulations would allow the tribes to compete in the digital age. Another wrote that the “state law model of iGaming is not a substitute for iGaming under IGRA and tribes should be able to engage in internet gaming under IGRA.”
The Seminole Tribe believed it was within its rights to own the monopoly on online sports betting under the compact it negotiated with Florida in 2021. Observers said the terms of that compact pushed the limits of IGRA by stating a wager placed electronically anywhere in the state was placed on Seminole land since the server was located on the tribe’s reservation.
Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland did not sign off on the compact but let the 45-day waiting period pass. Two South Florida parimutuels then sued the DOI in federal court over allowing the compact to become “deemed approved.”
The Seminoles launched their sports wagering operation but were forced by court order to shut down their Hard Rock sports betting website. The tribe appealed that decision; oral arguments were heard in December. Any verdict is at least a year away and whatever it may be is likely to be appealed.
The Seminoles also would benefit if the proposed changes about trust lands are adopted. However, in a letter to the BIA, an alarmed Miami Mayor Dan Gelber wrote, “This proposed rule represents a seismic shift in policy that will allow casinos and gambling operators to force casinos into cities, notwithstanding well-founded and long-standing objections, and regardless of how incompatible they may be with the local economy and quality of life.”
