Seminole Tribe rollout sports betting in Florida

Jake Graves November 8, 2023

Florida’s Seminole Tribe has launched Hard Rock Bet, a mobile sports betting platform across the Sunshine State.

Early access to online sports betting in Florida is exclusively available through Hard Rock Bet, operated by the Seminole Tribe.

These movements come a week after the tribe announced their authorisation and ability to relaunch sports betting in Florida.

This will be granted to those who previously bet with the operator and members of Hard Rock’s loyalty scheme, Unity by Hard Rock, who qualify.

Sports betting, craps, and roulette will be launched at specific Seminole casinos in Florida on separate dates, beginning on December 7th, 2023.

Controversies

This highly beneficial news for the Seminole tribe has come in lieu of the US Supreme Court rejecting a motion by West Flagler Associates for a stay in October, providing the Seminoles with an opportunity to relaunch sports betting.

Governor Ron DeSantis had previously approved a gaming compact allowing the Seminoles to offer sports betting exclusively in Florida, however, this was halted in December 2021 due to legal challenges.

This case involved the District of Columbia ruling that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

This came after a suit filed by West Flagler the company similarly involved in Florida and Bonita-Fort Myers who questioned if offering sports betting through tribal-based servers was the same as betting on tribal land.

Subsequent to this, West Flagler launched the challenge in question claiming that DeSanctis and the legislature had exceeded their respective authorities regarding the compact’s 2021 approval.

West Flagler then ramped up its challenges in August of this year when it filed a rehearing petition for the case it lost against Secretary of the Interior, Debra Haaland in June 2023.

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