In a major victory for the Seminole Tribe, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to lift a 30-year, multibillion-dollar deal that gave the tribe control over sports betting across Florida.
The Supreme Court declined to hear a complaint filed by two peer companies. The order, as usual, did not explain the judges’ reasons, but it did say so Judge Brett Kavanaugh supported the handling of the case. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has dismissed himself.
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The decision keeps control of online sports betting in the hands of the Seminoles, which was included in a 2021 agreement signed by Governor Ron DeSantis and Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. and approved by the Legislature.
A spokesperson for the Seminoles said the tribe “applauds” the Supreme Court’s decision. The gambling deal, known as a compact, could net Florida at least $2.5 billion over the first five years — and billions of dollars in the future.
“It means members of the Seminole Tribe and all Floridians can count on a bright future made possible by the compact,” spokesman Gary Bitner said in an email.
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Experts say the Supreme Court’s decision could cement the tribe’s control over sports betting indefinitely.
“For the foreseeable future, the status quo will remain in place for at least several years, if not 30 years,” Daniel Wallach, an attorney who specializes in online gambling, told The News Service of Florida.
The case focused on a hub-and-spoke system in the deal, which allowed the Seminoles to accept bets anywhere in the state, with the bets routed through servers on tribal lands. The deal stated that wagering “using a mobile app or other electronic device shall be deemed to be conducted exclusively by the tribe.”
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, whose agency oversees tribal gambling, put the deal into effect.
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Attorneys for the pari-mutuel companies West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. have filed a federal lawsuit challenging her decision, arguing that the pact violates a federal law known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, or IGRA, because it allows gambling outside tribes. lands.
A federal district judge agreed with the pari-mutuel companies in 2021, but a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed its ruling in June. The companies filed a petition with the Supreme Court in February after the full appeals court declined to reconsider the panel’s decision.
West Flagler has three jai alai licenses and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. does business as Bonita Springs Poker Room in Southwest Florida. The companies claimed that the Seminoles’ sports betting will hurt their revenues. Representatives of the companies did not comment Monday.
Under the three-decade pact, the Seminoles agreed to pay Florida about $20 billion, including $2.5 billion over the first five years.
The deal also authorized the Seminoles to offer craps and roulette at their casinos and to add three casinos on tribal property in Broward County. It also allowed pari-mutuels to sign a contract with the Seminoles and share sports betting revenue.
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The tribe introduced a sports betting app in November and launched craps and roulette at its casinos in December.
The Seminoles began making payments to the state in January and have paid more than $357 million under the revenue-sharing agreement, including a payment made Monday, according to Bitner.
As the federal lawsuit wound its way through the courts, the companies and an owner, Isadore Havenick, asked the Florida Supreme Court to decide whether the sports betting scheme violated a section of the state constitution that requires voter approval for gambling expansions required.
In March, judges unanimously ruled that the companies could not bring their case directly to the Florida Supreme Court.
The decision did not address the merits of the lawsuit, but denied the companies’ petition for what is known as a “writ of quo warranto,” which means “by which authority” in Latin.
In the 11-page opinion, Judge Meredith Sasso cited a 1920 ruling that said the quo warranto has been used to “test the right of a person to hold an office of franchise or to exercise a right or privilege of which the special powers are derived from the state.”
“But quo warranto is not, and never has been, the proper means to obtain a declaration as to the substantive constitutionality of an enacted law. Therefore, we deny the petition because the relief petitioners seek goes beyond what the subpoena provides,” Sasso wrote.
If they decide to continue fighting the sports betting agreement, the pari-mutuels could file a state lawsuit in court. Additionally, they could still have other federal legal options, Wallach said.
The companies could challenge the pact on federal equal protection grounds, Wallach said. The companies could also challenge a rule passed earlier this year by the U.S. Department of the Interior that allows states to enter into agreements with Native American tribes similar to those in Florida.
Meanwhile, Wallach predicted that Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court order will have “implications beyond online sports” and could pave the way for a massive expansion of online gambling.
“It will accelerate Florida’s path to online casino gaming using the same compact language and possibly as early as next year or 2026,” Wallach said. “Within Florida, this seemingly removes a significant barrier to i-gaming under Seminole Tribe control.”
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