Online sports betting could begin statewide in Florida as soon as Monday
MIAMI - In 2018, The US Supreme Court overturned the federal ban on sports betting. In the five years since, nearly 40 states have legalized sports betting in some capacity. Florida is in the minority.
South Florida gaming attorney and University of Miami adjunct professor Daniel Wallach said that almost changed in 2021.
In 2021, Governor Ron Desantis signed a gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to solely operate sports wagering in the state.
"2021 compact which gave the Seminole Tribe statewide control over all sports wagering, including online sports betting, I mean, they knew a lawsuit was coming," Wallach said.
A lawsuit did come, from West Flagler Associates, which up until February owned Magic City Casino in Miami. Wallach said they argued the compact violated federal law, which had previously been interpreted as limiting compacts to tribal lands. They argued the internet falls outside of that.
"At that point, the tribe had already been operating online sports betting for a little bit over one month, and were forced to cease their online sports betting operations," he said.
Fast forward to the present.
"The federal court judge in Washington DC handed a victory, at least a victory at this juncture, to the Seminole Tribe," Wallach said.
Unless West Flagler Associates files an appeal at the state level or to the Supreme Court, the Seminoles win big time.
"Their expected revenues on online sports betting will be measured in the billions on an annual basis," Wallach said. "They stand to become the biggest winner in the United States for online sports betting because in no other state of even comparable size, does a single operator control all of sports betting."
The US Supreme Court takes less than 4% of cases asked of them, but Wallach does believe there's a higher chance for this case to be taken because there have been many conflicting cases in lower federal courts on whether the federal government allows states to negotiate online gaming contracts with tribes.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida would not comment on if and when they plan on accepting bets again but said they are pleased with the judges' decision.
CBS Miami also reached out to West Flagler Associates to see if they will challenge this latest decision, but we did not hear back.
