As stated in a recent update from the Tampa Bay Times, the Seminole Tribe in Florida scored a big gaming win from the Biden Administration. Per a report, the current presidential administration is urging an appeals court in the Sunshine State to reinstate a deal that gave the Seminole Tribe of Florida control of sport betting in the state. This comes nearly nine months after Washington, D.C.-based judge ruled that the 30-year agreement violated the law. Late last month, a brief from the U.S. The Department of the Interior offered a full-scale defense of the Biden Administration’s decision to allow the gamlbing compact to go into effect.
For this article, SBS will go over some of the highlighted points from this update and also some more thoughts and information about gaming in Florida.
According to the update from the Tampa Bay Times, this deal, put into effect by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and also Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. opened the door for large scale sports betting in for the first time in Florida’s history. However, other local state business owners did not feel as though this deal was a fair one for their companies. For instance, owners of Magic City Casino in Miami-Dade County and Bonita Springs Poker Room in southwestern Florida filed a lawsuit that claimed this new compact violated federal law. The lawsuit also alleges that this gaming compact would cause a “significant and potentially devastating impact” on their businesses.
Initially, this “hub and spoke” sports betting plan was designed to allow gamblers throughout the state the ability to place bets online. The bets would then be run through computer servers on Tribal property. However, the U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in November ruled that the plan ran afoul of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which regulates gambling on tribal lands. This caused the compact to grind to a screeching halt last November. Nonetheless, in last month’s brief, lawyers for the Department of the Interior found that the Judge was incorrect in her ruling because the compact only authorized gambling on tribal lands and that the secretary was obligated to allow it to go into effect.
Per the update, in a separate brief filed late Wednesday, attorneys for the tribe argued that Fridrich erred by not allowing the tribe to intervene in the legal challenge. The Seminole Tribe also sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, citing sovereign immunity that helps shield it from lawsuits. Moreover, it was stated that Friedrich erred by not allowing the Seminoles to be a “necessary party” to the lawsuit and “failing to meaningfully consider the tribe’s immunity,” tribe lawyers argued.
This is the latest win and positive development for the Seminole Tribe’s conquest of the gaming pie in Florida. Supporters of the group contend that the sports betting arrangement with the Seminoles would comply with a 2018 constitutional amendment that requires statewide voter approval of gamlbing expansions in Florida. Under what is known as Amendment 3, expansions of gambling must be placed on the statewide ballot through the citizen’s initiative process.
Once you are done doing your research on the state of gamlbing in the Sunshine State, SBS has you covered with a whole host of other great resources. This includes our Florida sports betting guide which details all the latest gaming news coming out of the state and also ways to get in on the action. In addition to that page, SBS has provides its regular readers with a handy resource in our payment methods overview which goes over all kinds of ways to place your deposits and withdrawals from traditional routes to crypto. Finally, for those customers on the go, the SBS breakdown on best betting apps is a must-read so you are always on top of the action.
About the Author
Chris Boline is a Reno-based business development professional and freelance sports writer with over a decade of experience covering the NBA G League, Los Angeles Chargers, and national football and basketball. His expertise spans the NFL, NBA, UFC, boxing, golf, and motorsports, along with topical news, marketing, and promotional content. A proud University of Nevada graduate, Chris earned both his BS in Management & Economics (2015) and MBA (2023). He is active in the Reno community, serving on boards such as the Nevada Sagebrush Alumni Chapter, NCET, and the College of Business Alumni Association, where he was past president (2022–23). Notable honors include: - Two-time University of Nevada Alumni Chapter of the Year honoree (2017, 2021) - 2021 NCET Professional Services Organization of the Year (with TAC) - 2016–17 Reno Bighorns MVP, awarded by the Sacramento Kings - Nevada Press Association Award for Best Sports Column (2015) - Former Editor-in-Chief of The Nevada Sagebrush Chris blends his passion for sports with a strong background in sales, marketing, and community engagement.
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