Chris Boline
People continue to sit patiently and hope for more updates regarding Florida sports betting after a U.S. District Judge ruled against the pact between the state and the Seminole Tribe. Well, things have just gotten incredibly interesting, as the U.S. Department of Justice is ready to help Florida sports betting actually get underway and provide its citizens the ability to make wagers legally as planned.
According to multiple reports, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a motion to appeal the judge’s decision from late in 2021 that overturned Florida from moving forward with its sports betting. Last year when Florida and the Seminole Tribe reached their 30-year agreement, it set up a historic pact for the two sides and it was one that was going to change things for Florida as a whole. People were excited.
Then, before things could officially get launched, multiple lawsuits were filed against the two sides, as the opposition protested that Florida and the Seminole Tribe were breaking multiple state laws with their agreement. However, Governor Ron DeSantis was optimistic that things wouldn’t be shut down. The first lawsuit was thrown out, but that wasn’t the case down the road, with the judge indeed ruling against them.
Now, there’s a little more hope here for DeSantis and company with the Department of Justice stepping in. This was expected to happen, as countless folks out there were incredibly disappointed when the result came in. Now, though, things have reached a new twist and there’s plenty of intrigue here in how things will shape out. Per several experts here, though, they believe Florida has a great chance to win things here.
BREAKING: The U.S. Department of the Interior has filed a notice of appeal in the Florida sports betting case. The DOI is appealing Judge Dabney Friedrich's order that online sports betting via a tribal compact violates IGRA and setting aside the entire compact as a remedy. pic.twitter.com/S4TNf76uhW
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) January 20, 2022
Florida is pulling out all the stops to get sports betting going
As you might have been able to guess, Florida is pulling out all the stops to get sports betting going as soon as possible. This includes a referendum that everyone is hoping can get presented for the next ballot. Well, there’s a bit of an uphill climb for that. Per a recent report, Florida was only at around 400,000 signatures for that to happen. Per state laws, 891,589 signatures are needed.
For Florida and the Seminole Tribe, they have until Feb. 1 to get all of those signatures. Obviously as you can see from those numbers, there’s plenty of work that needs to be done and the belief is that they may fall short of reaching that goal. If that happens, then the chances of the referendum being able to move forward will not be able to go through. This will complicate things a bit for the case.
However, this next step with the U.S. Department of Justice completely changes things. This really has people excited about things being overturned. If the DOJ does get the job done, then people will finally be able to gamble in Florida rather than having to travel out of state to do so. In October, things were expected to be fully launched. This is a billion-dollar endeavor here.
The HardRock even had a silent launch of a mobile betting app, which recorded an unreal amount of popularity. People were checking all the different kinds of betting options, including NFL Super Bowl odds, and getting some early wagers in. The fact that people could finally do it legally was incredible for Floridians as a whole. Now, though, no one knows what’s going to end up happening, which is frustrating.
In a summation Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said the department plans on appealing the ruling on the grounds the Seminole Tribe’s sports betting venture did not violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.https://t.co/jjC46E03OP
— Florida Sports Betting 🍊 FloridaBet.com (@florida_bet) January 20, 2022
Florida is losing millions of dollars in betting revenue right now
What makes things all the more frustrating for Floridians right now is that Florida is losing millions of dollars in betting revenue right now because of things being in limbo. We don’t have to tell you how popular the NFL postseason odds are for fans to check out and place bets. With so many upsets, countless states are winning big on people losing different kinds of wagers.
Take a look at what happened this weekend for example. Over in the AFC, the Cincinnati Bengals traveled to Tennessee and shocked the No. 1 seed Titans. No one thought this would happen, as the Titans were considered the big-time favorites. Over in Las Vegas, the money was being put on the Titans to win and move onto the AFC Championship Game. Instead, the Bengals won 19-16.
Then on the other side of the postseason bracket, can anyone believe the Packers lost to the 49ers. Per Vegas officials, there was an insane amount of money on the Green Bay moneyline. No one was giving Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers a chance to pull off an upset in this case. Well, thanks to Green Bay’s awful special teams, and Aaron Rodgers playing quite poorly, San Francisco pulled off a stunner.
With both of these results, places like Vegas are cashing in like crazy. This only adds to the frustration for Florida, as they’d be able to take advantage of a wild postseason in the NFL with bets for their citizens as well. With each day that passes, Florida is losing out on massive revenue opportunities. We don’t have to tell you how infuriating that is for DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe.
FAITHFUL 🤟
Good luck sleeping after that one. This group is special. We’re on to the NFC Championship!@fred_warner pic.twitter.com/he2xSvr3Nm
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) January 23, 2022
