Magic City Casino Owners Challenge Florida Gambling Compact With Seminole Tribe
Magic City Casino and Southwest Parimutuels have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida's gaming compact with the Seminole tribe. They argue that the agreement authorizing sports betting outside Florida’s tribal lands is in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Magic City Casino Owners Challenge Florida Gambling Compact With Seminole Tribe. Southwest Parimutuels claims it stands to lose millions if Florida residents are allowed to make sports bets from their homes.
The lawsuit focuses on the legality of off-reservation and online sports wagering.
The compact signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Seminole Tribe chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. last May would allow online bets on sports events using the internet or web applications from anywhere in Florida beginning October 5th. All transactions would have to go through servers located on tribal lands. The agreement also allows sports bets to be placed at six of the tribe’s reservations and allows the state”s existing race tracks to develop their own mobile apps to conduct off-reservation bets if they are picked by the Tribe as its partners.
Magic City Casino Owners Challenge Florida Gambling Compact With Seminole Tribe. The main issue is the provision that says that a bet is "deemed" to be placed on tribal land just because of the location of operator's server.
The deal is pending approval from the U.S. Department of Interior. The compact was submitted to the approving authority on June 3rd. It was presented to DOI on the 21st. FanDuel and DraftKings proposed a constitutional amendment for the 2022 ballot which would authorize online sports betting at all Florida parimutuels, professional sports stadiums and anywhere else in the state using a mobile sports Betting platform.