For a brief time in 2021, sports betting existed in the state of Florida. An expanded tribal compact between the Seminole Tribe and the state set the tone. The revised compact gave the tribe exclusive rights to operate sports betting statewide as long as said bets were processed through servers located in tribal land.
State racetracks objected to being locked out and filed suit. Shortly after, the D.C. Circuit Court struck down the agreement between the state and the Seminoles.
Judge Dabney Friedrich found it unconstitutional, saying the Seminoles broke the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) by accepting online wagers, calling the proposed model a work of fiction.
“It is well-settled that IGRA authorizes sports betting only on Indian lands,” wrote Friedrich in 2021’s ruling. And thus Florida became the only state to launch and then shut down. An ongoing court battle has prevented another compact ever since.
In appellate briefs filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the two organizations say the compact did not authorize online sports betting. The compact only permitted in-person betting on tribal lands. As for the online sports wagering, well, that was authorized by the state of Florida.
The sports betting provisions of the compact “reflect a permissible hybrid approach, wherein gaming activity that occurs off of the tribe’s Indian lands is authorized under state law, and gaming activity that occur on Indian lands is authorized by IGRA pursuant to the compact.”
Wallach dubbed this rationale as a “creative re-invention of the compact,” and called it “another ‘fiction advanced by the same parties who had previously maintained that the compact ‘authorized’ online sports betting.”
“If this is their best argument on appeal, Floridians may be waiting several more years for the return of legal online sports betting,” said Wallach in his article.
The 30-year gaming compact signed in April 2021 called for the Seminoles to pay the state at least $2.5 billion over the first five years in exchange for sole control over sports wagering in Florida, plus the option to add roulette and craps to its operations. And the agreement allowed mobile betting anywhere in Florida as long as the servers resided on tribal lands.
Friedrich’s November ruling against the compact followed a lawsuit filed by West Flagler Associates, owner of the Magic City Casino, and Bonita-Fort Myers, owner of the Bonita Springs Poker Room. They claimed this agreement would cause a “significant and potentially devastating” impact on their businesses.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed briefs with the goal of reinstating the sports betting market in August, a move that had the support of the DOJ and the Biden administration.
The feds, who represent the Department of the Interior in this matter, filed a brief on October 3 in the appeal of the compact. The tribe filed an amicus brief in support of the feds’ appeal. The feds, for their part, argue the Seminoles are not an indispensable party to the suit.
Rather than approve the compact, the Interior let a 45-day window lapse, at which time the compact came into force.
Accompanying the lapse of the 45-day window was a memorandum effectively giving the OK to the hub-and-spoke model that the compact laid out. Litigation quickly followed, and West Flagler Associates sued Interior, challenging the compact. Then came the suit. Poof. No more sports betting. The Seminoles tried to intervene but were denied.
The court is being asked if the government can take administrative action. The inclusion of a third party is generally unnecessary to that inquiry, according to the federal government.
The government’s second argument is that the Seminole Tribe is not a required party, under Rule 19(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
The government says if the Tribe wants to argue a separate line of reasoning, they can file an amicus brief, which they have already done.
An answering brief from West Flagler should arrive any day.
Meantime, the U.S. Court of Appeals announced a timetable for the appeal, saying a final determination would be decided in 2023. And if it ends up before the U.S. Supreme Court, hold your bets until 2025.
