Due to a federal judge’s error shortly after sports betting was introduced in Florida, Budget Committee lawmakers along with state grant recipients and Gov. Ron DeSantis won a major court victory worth at least $2.5 billion, and estimates say as much as $6 billion U.S. dollar.
A three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a challenge to Florida’s 2021 gambling treaty, which allowed the Seminole tribe to offer mobile sports betting there. The practice was banned shortly after the books opened in 2021, and online sports betting has been considered a violation of the state’s law ever since.
Sports betting could reopen in Florida immediately
However, this could change at any time with the new regulation. Sports betting could return to Florida practically overnight.
In short, the judges ruled that there should be no conflict with the opposing party resolved under state law, since none of the claims made actually had anything to do with federal law. While it may seem like a groundbreaking decision, it was ultimately more of a course correction than anything else, and an appeal by the plaintiffs could always send the industry back into a death spiral with a decision challenge and court order.
The Seminole tribe welcomed the decision, however He didn’t want to say he would resume sports betting right away.
An attorney representing the casinos that challenged the settlement pointed out what the plaintiffs saw as nonsense – according to Hamish Hume, the court somehow “recognized” state gambling laws. “You can’t sanction gambling outside of indigenous lands, but then he confirmed a pact that aims to do just that.”
The legal counsel explained: “We do not agree with this decision out of respect and are currently evaluating our possible next steps.”
The overturning of a judge’s order by the federal appeals court was personally and politically important to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as he personally lobbied lawmakers to get the accord passed in 2021.
A spokesman for the governor stated: “While we are not surprised that the lower court’s confusing verdict was unanimously reversed, this is great news for Florida.”Mahon said in an email to Politico. “We will continue to work with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to ensure the success of this historic compact, the largest gaming compact in United States history.”
A spokesman for the Seminole tribe said of the recent decision: “The Florida Seminole Tribe is delighted with today’s unanimous decision. It is a positive outcome for the Seminole tribe and people of Florida and for the entire Indian Territory. The tribe is fully reviewing the decision to determine its next steps.”
New deal also allows table games
In addition to approving sports betting, the “new pact” also allowed the tribe to launch table games such as Dice and add roulette to its existing slot casinos and build at least one other casino on its reservation, the Hollywood area, which already has a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
In the ruling that blocked the implementation of the agreement, DC District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that the agreement went beyond what was legally permitted in that it allowed people to place sports bets anywhere in the state, a violation of federal gambling statutes could represent tribal areas.
The negative decision was triggered by two lawsuits filed by an anti-gambling group active in Florida, another group focused mainly on the southern part of the state and the casino’s competitors. The plaintiffs had sued US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who did not block the pact who did nothing and let it take effect automatically after some time, as required by law.
The erroneous judge also found that a New citizen initiative Approve sports betting on the condition that voters passed a bill in 2018 mandating the expansion of casino gambling without a citizens’ initiative — a law supported by both Disney Corp and the Tribe.
The strain and DeSantis relied on the legal theory that bets processed on servers physically located on tribal lands were placed “in reserve.” The Trump-appointed judge called it “fiction,” stating, “When a federal statute restricts activity to certain locations, the parties cannot circumvent that restriction by “assuming” that their activity takes place where, in fact, it does not.”
In essence, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals panel of judges said that neither argument was significant in this case: “Whether it is legal for a sponsor to place bets on non-tribal lands within Florida may be a matter for that state’s courts, but it is not a subject of this litigation and it is not our decision.”
“We simply believe that the minister’s decision not to act on the pact was in line with the pact
The consideration of the arguments put forward by the litigants against the legality of the pact was dismissed out of hand as “a matter for the state courts to decide”.
Spring: DeSantis achieves major legal success in maintaining a $2.5 billion gambling deal with a Florida tribePolitico, June 30, 2023
