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The legal dispute over the Seminole tribe controlling online sports betting in Florida continues to play out. The state supreme court ruled last week that opponents filed the wrong type of petition in the case, sending the issue back to a lower court.
Attorneys for Magic City Casino and Bonita Springs Poker Room (known as West Flagler Associates) are now expected to refile the case and see the court battle continue.
“This decision is not a ruling on the merits,” gambling legal expert Daniel Wallach noted on Twitter. “The Court is simply saying that this type of constitutional challenge is improperly before the SCOFL (supreme court of Florida) and must instead be filed in the Florida trial courts as an action for declaratory relief – which is precisely what will happen next.”
Details On The Decision
West Flagler Associates have argued that the state’s compact with the Seminoles runs contrary to a state ban on expanded gambling approved by voters in 2018. The fight is now expected to continue in state court before possibly heading back to the Florida supreme court again.
“Because this decision does not address the merits of whether the state’s online sports betting law violates Florida Amendment 3, West Flagler could still raise the constitutional challenge in Leon County Circuit Court,” Wallach noted.
The tribe and administration of Gov Ron DeSantis® say the compact is legal. However, West Flagler has argued that the U.S. Supreme Court should review the compact as well, and overturn an appellate court’s decision upholding the agreement.
West Flagler believe Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland lacked authority to originally approve the agreement because the compact allowed for gaming off traditional Indian lands by betting online anywhere in the state.
The plaintiffs have also outlined that the compact violates the Constitution’s equal protection aspects by granting “an Indian tribe a statewide monopoly to conduct online sports gaming while simultaneously making such conduct a felony if done by anyone of a different race, ancestry, ethnicity, or national origin.”