The Florida Supreme Court turned down a request for a hearing on the claims of two parimutuel companies that the compact between the Seminole Tribe and the DeSantis administration should be nullified.
The court told the parimutuels they filed the wrong petition to challenge the compact, but the ruling permits them to file a motion for a rehearing on the case, according to the Associated Press.
The firms—West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp.— say the compact signed by the governor and the tribe in 2021 gives the tribe a sports betting monopoly that will cause irreparable harm to their businesses.
They also argue that it creates a backdoor way out of a requirement, passed by voters in 2018 as an amendment to the Florida Constitution, that a referendum is necessary to expand gaming outside tribal land.
The parimutuels, which operate racetracks and poker rooms, still have a request in for a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court.
