SCOTUS strikes down challenge to Florida sports betting compact

The US Supreme Court seemed temporarily poised to upset a landmark deal between the government of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida that effectively allows the latter to offer online sports betting in the Sunshine State.

A fresh challenge to the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s intention led to a stay request from US Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts earlier this month followed by input from US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, and the Department of the Interior (DoI), who argued that the wishes of West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Mayes Corp were not very likely to be honored and that SCOTUS would respect a previous ruling that essentially allows the Seminole Tribe of Florida to carry on with its plans to launch online sports betting in Florida.

That is unless the Supreme Court of Florida has another opinion, Prelogar explained just this week. Yet, the suspense is now over as SCOTUS rejected on Wednesday an appeal to block the multi-billion compact that was negotiated between Gov. Ron DeSantis and already approved by the DoI, which is also expected to bring in $2.5bn to the state.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of the associate justices of SCOTUS, penned a separate opinion in which he said that he respected his colleagues’ ruling, but also argued that this decision may take the battle back home to Florida where local courts could have a say in it again. He however acquiesced that the plaintiffs’ application did not focus on this aspect of the issue.

Pari-mutuel businesses, who argue that have the most to lose should the compact go through, have been unable to prove to court that they would indeed incur a loss as a result of online sports betting launching under the patronage of the Seminole Tribe, or at least the courts have found the matter to be so. With SCOTUS’ ruling this week, pari-mutuel businesses now have very few options.

One possible course of action involves taking the matter to the Supreme Court of Florida. Florida has been trying to advance its gambling laws for a very long time now. In 2018, the state made it possible to enact big changes to gambling laws through state-wide referendums, and a referendum held in 2018 made it possible for the state and the tribes to enter compacts on the condition that DOI also approved the compact which it did.

This is not very likely to be the last chapter in the saga, but it once again gives hope to Florida that it will soon have sports betting.

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