Meanwhile, the pari-mutuel companies and an owner, Isadore Havenick, filed a lawsuit at the Florida Supreme Court, alleging the sports-betting component of the agreement violates a 2018 constitutional amendment prohibiting expansions of casino-style gambling without voter approval. The Supreme Court last week refused to block the deal. The pari-mutuel companies then requested that the appeals-court panel decision be put on hold and asked the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia this summer reversed the ruling, and the full appeals court in September refused to reconsider the challenge. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in November 2021 ruled against the compact, calling the sports-betting plan a “fiction” and invalidating other parts of the agreement.

filed a federal lawsuit challenging the deal, arguing that the sports-betting provision violated the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act because it authorized gambling off of tribal lands. Pari-mutuel companies West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp.

In exchange, the tribe agreed to pay the state at least $2.5 billion over the first five years and possibly billions more throughout the three-decade pact. In addition to allowing the Seminoles to add craps and roulette at their casinos, the agreement also allowed the Seminoles to add three casinos on tribal property in Broward County. Read: Legal sports betting in Florida remains on hold The deal said bets “using a mobile app or other electronic device, shall be deemed to be exclusively conducted by the tribe.” The compact included a “hub-and-spoke” plan that would allow gamblers to place mobile sports wagers anywhere in Florida, with bets handled by computer servers on tribal property. No additional information is available today,” Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminoles, said in an email.

“This news is about in-person sports betting. Wednesday’s announcement indicated initial sports betting will be restricted to the tribe’s facilities and did not detail when it could go statewide. Read: US Supreme Court rejects challenge against online sports betting law in FloridaĭeSantis said in the release that the tribe’s “new initiative will create jobs, increase tourism, and provide billions in added revenue” for the state. “This is a historic milestone that immediately puts Florida in the same league with the world’s great gaming destinations,” Allen said. The addition of the games at the Seminoles’ casinos will generate more than 1,000 new jobs, according to Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming and chairman of Hard Rock International.

The hard rock casino jobs