Feds Should Dismiss Florida and Seminole Tribe’s Gambling Deal
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Florida signed a gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe on April 23, 2021. The compact is expected to boost state revenue by $2.5 billion in the next few years. It still needs federal approval. Anti-gambling groups in Florida can still object to it and file lawsuits against it. Florida is not asking the feds to approve a compact that legalizes sports betting on Indian land.
The newly signed gaming compact between the state of Florida and its Seminole Tribe is expected to create tax revenue of $2.5 billion for the State in the next 5 years and $6 billion by 2030. It is the biggest and most expansive gaming agreement in US history. The agreement legalizes sports betting in Florida.
The US Interior Department has to approve the gaming compact next month. The compact with the Seminole tribe covers all 42 million acres of Florida. It would allow the tribe to accept sports bets from all over the state, not just on Seminoles' land. This violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which regulates gambling only on reservation land, and it also violates federal gambling laws. Sports betting, craps, roulette and other gambling activities are illegal in Florida, but they will become legal in the State after a statewide referendum. According to a federal court ruling of 2018 in California, tribe-run online bingo games are gambling Activities that are not conducted on the reservation.
