circuit court, however, reversed that decision, arguing that federal gaming law was flexible enough to allow for Florida’s compact. The agreement was invalidated and the state’s 2010 compact went back into effect. But in November 2021, a federal district court judge called this “fiction” and ruled against the agreement. The state claims that online sports betting was still taking place on tribal land since the servers were on tribal property. But the online betting aspect makes things more complicated. The federally recognized Seminole Tribe of Florida owns seven casinos in Florida, including Tampa’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, the largest in the state and fifth-largest in the nation.įlorida still has a say in what happens in those casinos, like what kinds of gambling are allowed.

Throw in the state lottery, the parimutuel casino and cruise industries, and you get “the most complicated gaming jurisdiction in the country,” said Marc Dunbar, who teaches gaming law at Florida State University.Ī 1988 federal law known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act regulates casinos and other gambling operations on reservations and other tribal land. are complicated, especially in states like Florida, where commercial gambling is illegal but gambling on tribal land is allowed. If the latest ruling stands, Florida will join 37 other states where sports betting is legal, and pioneer a first-of-its-kind mobile gaming deal with a Native American tribe. In return for exclusive operation of sports betting in the state for the next 30 years, the tribe will pay the state a minimum of $500 million annually, a number that will increase as the tribe’s profits expand. All bets must be routed through the Seminole Tribe, the exclusive operator of sports betting in the state. The 2021 gaming compact passed by the Legislature and approved by the Department of the Interior seeks to expand permitted games, adding sports betting, fantasy betting and table games like roulette and craps in casinos on tribal lands.Īnyone 21 or older can bet on professional, collegiate, Olympic and international sports and athletic events. Previously, under a 2010 compact between Florida and the Seminole Tribe, only slot machines, some card games and raffles and drawings were allowed in casinos.

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