Florida
No Immediate End in Sight for Seminole Florida Sports Betting Decision
Neil is a gambling industry veteran with over 15 years experience as a content writer, editor and speaker at events. He has a Masters degree in English Literature and Philosophy and has combined this analytical inquisitiveness with a passion for sports betting and casino gaming. Neil started his career with Bettingpro.com and helped build not only that site but various others such as LiveTennis.com, LiveDarts.com and numerous other sports informational sites, including GG.co.uk and RacingTips.com He then made the transition to the North American market, working both in the UK and in New Jersey to launch various sports betting and casino sites, including AmericanBettingExperts and NewAmericanCasinos. Working with regulators, Neil has helped to review sports betting sites and also test the regulated betting apps in a professional capacity. He now works almost exclusively in the US market and is one of the main reviewers and fact checkers on SportsLens gambling content. He also speaks at various gambling conferences including ICE, iGB Live and SBC Americas and has contributed to GamblingInsider, EGR Magazine and a number of others in a consulting capacity.
All posts by Neil RoartyUpdated39 mins ago on April 18, 2024
It is unlikely that a decision will be made on the outcome of the future of online sports betting in Florida until 2023 at the earliest. The ongoing legal debate surrounds the initial decision around whether the Seminole Tribe is permitted to offer online sports betting statewide through a new tribal compact.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has set out a timeline for the appeal case which will see the two parties make their final written brief submissions on November 14th, before then setting a date for oral questions.
Given the speed of developments to date, it is highly unlikely that oral questions and a decision will be made prior to 2023, leaving the court injunction on the Seminole Tribe’s online operation under an injunction for over 12 months.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida had previously used a ‘hub and spoke model’ – meaning a model in which as long as bets were processed on Seminole servers, a bet was deemed to be on tribal land – to take online bets through until December 4th. This operation was forced to stop accepting online events in November 2021, after it was declared that the wagers and the new compact violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
Upon the decision of the appeal, and whether or not the Seminole are found in breach – it’s considered likely amongst industry commentators that this will roll on until it reaches the Supreme Court with neither-side ready to give-up. The Seminole’s argument hinges on the New Jersey hub and spoke model, but given this case goes deeper into tribal law – it could well play out differently.
Whichever way the case goes, it’s sure to set an interesting precedent as more and more states heavily dominated by tribal presence look to legalise online sports betting.
