“When a federal statute authorizes an activity only at specific locations, parties may not evade that limitation by ‘deeming’ their activity to occur where it, as a factual matter, does not,” Friedrich said. In the ruling, the judge called the idea that sports betting was taking place on tribal land because the servers would be housed on tribal land “a fiction.” District Judge Dabney Friedrich said the Interior Department should have stopped the compact because it violated the IGRA, which says that state-sanctioned tribal gambling can only happen on tribal land. Department of the Interior, overseer of American Indian affairs, allowed the contract to go through under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which governs the framework for tribal gambling.īut nontribal gambling facilities in Florida, including the owners of Magic City Casino in Miami-Dade County, sued to stop the compact in federal court. They sued the Department of the Interior and Interior Secretary Debra Haaland.Ī judge in November 2021 ruled with the plaintiffs. U.S. In return for agreeing to the compact, the state would get at least $2.5 billion over the first five years, and an estimated $20 billion over the 30 years of the deal. To get around a 2018 voter-approved amendment that only authorized gambling in the state if it was approved by voters, the servers for the sports betting were supposed to be located on tribal land. The tribe would be allowed to operate sports betting, as well as offer craps and roulette at its casinos. Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe agreed to a 30-year deal called a compact.

Here’s what happened, according to reporting from News4JAX’s sister station in Orlando, WKMG. An appeals court heard arguments in December, and everyone is now awaiting a ruling. Ron DeSantis in 2021, sports betting is still not allowed in Florida.Ī lawsuit has stopped betting in the state. If you’re hoping to bet on the Super Bowl online from your couch in Florida, you’re out of luck.ĭespite a compact between the Seminole Tribe and Gov.

Legal online sports betting states