Federal lawyers in the state of Florida are doing their best to have an appeals court reverse an invalidation of the gambling compact between Florida and the Seminole Tribe, per one article. For frequent readers of this space, this compact effectively gave the tribe a monopoly over sports betting in the state and was earlier agreed upon by Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis and the Seminole chairman, Marcellus Osceola Jr. In the middle of last month, federal lawyers urged for an appeals court to reverse course on a prior decision regarding gaming in the state. As referenced in one report, the future of sports betting in Florida through placing servers on tribal grounds is not decided yet, even though it has been more than a year at this point since the agreement was first established.
For this article, SBS will be going over what the latest news coming out of the Sunshine state means along with even more information related to wagering in Florida.
For those that have been regular readers of this space, you are most likely aware of some of the details of the Seminole compact agreement down in Florida. For those not in the know, back in November 2021, Judge Dabney L. Friedrich of the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia ruled to invalidate the initial gambling compact. The judge said that the compact was an attempt at circumventing the state’s constitutional ban on expanding gambling outside of tribal land without voter approval. As referenced in one article, the compact would achieve this by granting the Seminole sole control over sports betting by running all sports wagers through servers located within tribal grounds. As some are aware, this technique has already been seen and has been nicknamed the “hub-and-spoke” model when talking about sports betting and regulation.
Lawyers for the Seminole Tribe, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the State of Florida, and the plaintiffs – West Flagler Associates, all spoke before the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last month. The latter group, West Flagler, owns Bonita Springs Poker Room and Magic City Casino. The main issue at hand, the plaintiffs argue, was whether Deb Haaland, Secretary of Interior and part of the agency overseeing tribal gaming, acted in accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and took no action. This would, in effect, let the agreement between Governor Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe run without any restrictions.
Per one article, the hub-and-spoke model has already been proven controversial when it comes to regulation. Outside of that though, it has been a widely used model, rolled out in transport, software architecture, and other industries. As one report notes, the issue here is not the model itself, but whether implementing sports betting using this model is strictly legal. This puts forward the question of where the legality of the betting process lies, whether it is at the user’s end, on the operator’s end, or perhaps both. The issue of where exactly a mobile sports bet has been made is a hot topic for some regulators too.
With this conundrum in a sort of legal limbo as one source put it, there isn’t a single legal solution to the problem in sight. This means that while the current case might be boiling down to the interpretation of the law and the compact, it might serve as a precedent on how other similar tribal cases can be ruled. As noted by one author, the importance of the court’s decision on the matter might eventually affect not only the Seminole Tribe but all Native American tribes in the U.S. that rely on similar interpretations of the law.
After you are all done and up to speed regarding the latest gaming news in Florida, SBS has your back with a ton of excellent resources geared toward making your gaming journey a breeze. For more information related to the state, make sure to check out our Florida sports betting guide which goes over the latest news from the Sunshine State. Additionally, if you are maybe uncertain about how you would like to make your deposits and withdrawals, the SBS payment methods breakdown gives you a variety of ways to do so. This includes traditional banking options to newer crypto-based methods. Finally, if you are interested in more high-stakes wagering, then our VIP sports betting rundown is exactly what you need to see if VIP betting is for you.
About the Author
As a devout aficionado of sports, Chris Boline has carved a career within the athletic realm. A skilled scribe, he boasts a decade-long portfolio that encompasses coverage of the NBA G League, the Los Angeles Chargers, football in the Mountain West Conference, and basketball. Beyond his professional pursuits, Chris is deeply invested in his community and dedicates his leisure hours to serving on boards, collaborating with community organizations, and cherishing the company of loved ones.
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