Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To DeSantis' Multibillion Agreement For Online Sports Betting In Florida

CNN -
The Supreme Court rejected an emergency situation bid Wednesday to obstruct a multibillion-dollar agreement in between Florida and the Seminole Tribe to offer online sports betting throughout the state.


The court's order means that sports wagering could soon be offered in Florida, although other pending legal challenges in state courts could affect the specific timing.


T he arrangement, or "compact," was championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, authorized by the US Department of the Interior and is slated to bring in $2.5 billion in new profits over the next five years and an approximated $6 billion through 2030.


Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote to say that he respected the court's action, but questioned whether the deal might raise separate concerns under state law. He explained, nevertheless, that concerns under state law were not "squarely provided" in the current application brought by other betting companies.


The court's brief order might activate other states and tribes to pursue comparable offers.


Back in 2018, Florida voters authorized a referendum that amended the Florida Constitution to make sure that any type of casino gaming would just be allowed the state through a separate referendum - to take power to approve such activity away from the state legislature.


But the 2018 referendum specifically took gambling and other gaming worked out through a compact in between tribes and the state - so long as the compact was authorized by the federal government.


In 2021, the Seminole Tribe of Florida got in into an arrangement with the state under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that permitted the people to provide online sports betting throughout the state as long as the servers getting the wagers were found on tribal ground.


The following month, DeSantis signed a law that approved the compact in between the 2 parties. The Department of Interior did not block the deal, which had the very same legal result as if it formally approved it.


Other wagering establishments, however, submitted match, arguing that the compact was illegal under the IGRA since that law just permitted betting on tribal lands. They filed match versus the Interior Department, arguing that the compact should not have actually been authorized in the very first location.


A district court accepted block the compact but was reversed by a federal appeals court based in Washington, DC. The appeals court said that the secretary of Interior hadn't exceeded her authority in allowing the agreement.