Celebrities and sports figures recently helped the Seminole Tribe of Florida launch new table games and sportsbooks at its South Florida and Tampa facilities.
Jim Allen, chief executive officer at Seminole Gaming and chairman at Hard Rock International, also said the tribe will resume payments to the state of at least $650 million over the next year under the 2021 compact signed by Governor Ron Desantis and Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. The 30-year agreement calls for the tribe to pay Florida a total of $20 billion, including $2.5 billion over the first five years of the agreement.
In 2019 the Seminoles stopped paying the state more than $350 million a year due to court rulings related to “designated player” card games offered at many parimutuels.
Allen said, “The compact is now back in full force, and the tribe is abiding with the full terms of the compact. It’s certainly our intention to comply with the compact in our relationship with the state.” Allen did not specify when the tribe would begin making payments or the amount of the first payment.
The compact also allows the Seminoles to offer craps and roulette at their casinos and to add three casinos on tribal property in Broward County. In addition, it permits parimutuels to contract with the Seminoles and share sports betting revenue.
Although the 2021 compact allowed it, sports betting was on hold for more than two years due to legal battles. Specifically, two parimutuel companies, West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corporation, challenged a provision of the compact stating bets “using a mobile app or other electronic device, shall be deemed to be exclusively conducted by the tribe.” In other words, gamblers could place mobile sports wagers anywhere in the state; servers on tribal property would handle the transactions.
The two parimutuels argued that provision violated federal law, since bettors would be allowed to place wagers even if they’re not on tribal property. The parimutuels also have said they plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appellate court ruling upholding a U.S. Department of the Interior decision to allow the compact to move forward.
The two parimutuels also have asked the Florida Supreme Court to block the compact’s sports betting provision, stating it violates a 2018 constitutional amendment that requires Florida voters to approve any expansion of gambling in the state.
In response, in a recent friend-of-the-court filing, the Seminoles’ lawyers said the provision does not violate the amendment because the compact states bets made on mobile devices anywhere in the state are considered to be placed on tribal lands.
The tribe’s brief states, “Thus, under the plain language of Amendment 3, the legislature was well within its authority to deem the placement of the online sports betting wagers, where aspects of each transaction occur both on and off tribal lands, to occur exclusively where accepted on tribal lands as a matter of law.”
