Legalized sports betting in Florida may return soon after favorable appeals court ruling Friday

Sports betting in Florida was briefly legal in 2021 but only allowed through the Seminole Tribe, which owns Hard Rock Casinos, due to its contract with the state. Alas, gambling went away in November that year when U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that the setup ran afoul of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which regulates gambling on tribal lands, because the agreement allowed gambling off property owned by the Seminoles through mobile betting via the Hard Rock Digital brand. However, a major court decision today could mean betting will be back soon in the Sunshine State.

Owners of Magic City Casino in the Miami area and a Bonita Springs poker room near Naples originally filed the lawsuit alleging the sports betting plan violated federal laws and would cause a "significant and potentially devastating" impact on the pari-mutuels' businesses. They've now won, as Friedrich ruled that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland erred when she allowed the deal to go into effect in the summer of 2021.

The Biden administration and the Seminole Tribe of Florida had urged a federal appeals court to overturn the ruling that blocked the deal, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola, Jr. and ratified by the Florida Legislature in a special session. Rachel Heron, an attorney for the Interior Department arguing for the ruling to stand, said Haaland "did act lawfully" by allowing the compact to go into effect. The three-judge panel disagreed.

Jeff Ifrah, a lawyer who runs a firm in Washington, tweeted that the ruling "leaves open the possibility of a Florida based state court challenge," but that betting could soon return to the Sunshine State. 

The DC Circuit Court must issue a final mandate of the case to make the decision final, which it would not due if West Flagler Associates/Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. submits a timely "en banc hearing" with the DC Circuit Court or takes the case to the the U.S. Supreme Court. "En banc" hearings at the DC Circuit Court apparently are rare, though. And it's not known if SCOTUS would consider the case. 

Sports betting is currently legal in 37 states (and in D.C.). This situation is very fluid, but the hope is for Florida to be back up and running no later than the start of football season. Florida is the third-largest state by population without sports betting (it does allow wagering on horse racing and jai alai), behind California and Texas. New York, right behind Florida at No. 4, didn't have betting back in 2021 but does now. 

Under the current setup, any sportsbooks that would want to offer mobile sports betting Florida must agree to a deal that would pay the Seminole Tribe a percentage of revenue in exchange for the ability to operate in the state. The Tribe certainly could say no and try to have a monopoly, but such a move would likely invite a legal challenge.

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