Speaking to reporters at the 2021 Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen said no date has been set for the launch of sports betting at Seminole Gaming’s Florida casinos.
Under a new gaming compact, the Seminoles received legal authority to begin offering sports betting in Florida on October 15. But, according to a footnote in the lawsuit filed by Magic City Casino in Miami and the Bonita Springs Poker Room, the Seminoles said the don’t expect sports betting to go live until November 15 at the earliest.
But challenges remain as Hard Rock International and the Seminole Indian Tribe attempt to launch a legal sports betting platform in Florida. Two parimutuels, Magic City Casino and the Bonita Springs Poker Room, filed a lawsuit in federal court in July against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The suit claims the tribe’s Class III gaming compact with the state violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Oral arguments in the case will be heard by a federal judge on November 5.
Also, two Miami businessmen, real estate developer Armand Codina and billionaire auto retailer Norman Braman, filed an injunction in U.S. District Court on September 27, claiming the U.S. Department of the Interior allowed the state of Florida to bypass the state constitution when it approved the gaming compact in July. The compact requires the tribe to pay the state at least $2.5 billion from through 2025.
If it gets past the legal obstacles, Seminole Gaming will need to determine if it will launch retail and mobile sports betting simultaneously.
Allen told the standing-room-only crowd at G2E that being a workaholic has led to two heart attacks and two strokes over his 40-plus-years career in the gaming industry. Allen confessed he interviewed a job candidate just hours after Allen was discharged from a hospital where he had open-heart surgery. He said, “That’s what I do and that’s what I love. My life is my job. Do I think that’s healthy, would I recommend for people to do that? Absolutely not.”
Also on the panel with Allen was MGM Resorts International Chief Executive Officer Bill Hornbuckle and Wynn Resorts Chief Executive Officer Matt Maddox.
