Chris Boline
The uncertainly surrounding Florida sports betting has never been higher, as things continue to be battled out in federal court. The appeals court is still working to make its decision, though nothing is expected to be decided in the near future. However, that doesn’t mean that sports betting won’t be legalized in 2023, especially with federal officials hoping for the Florida sports betting case to be overruled down the road.
That’s right, according to a report, lawyers for the federal government have urged the appeals court to flip things in the favor of Florida and the Seminole Tribe. Governor Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe have been furious ever since the U.S. District Judge shut down Florida sports betting after it was able to briefly launch in the fall of 2021. People got a little taste of sports wagers, but then things were canceled pretty darn quickly.
Now, everyone is waiting to see what happens with the appeals court, as the owners of the Magic City Casino aren’t budging with their case. They don’t want DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe to be able to move forward with their 30-year pact, which is expected to bring in billions and billions of dollars worth of revenue for Florida. With this project having so much potential, countless people want to see it get done.
However, it’s all up in the air due to the ongoing lawsuit. On one side of things, people aren’t feeling too optimistic about this situation because of all the questions surrounding the case. With that said, the fact that federal lawyers are backing the pact is a major development. Only time will tell how things shape out, but 2023 very well could end up being the year where Florida sees sports betting legalized.
Feds, Seminole Tribe leveraging new arguments on appeal to revive Florida compact. My take:
1) “The compact didn’t ‘authorize’ online sports betting” https://t.co/Jvo3wlFPRs
2) “It just transferred regulatory jurisdiction over such wagers to the Tribe” https://t.co/NriCEGmYLZ
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) December 14, 2022
When will the appeals court make its decision?
A big question for everyone is when will the appeals court make its decision? As we’ve stated before, the court doesn’t appear to be in a rush to close things down, but it very well could end up coming within the next couple of months. With that said, there’s also a chance that things make their way to the Supreme Court. The hope is that this gets avoided, but DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe won’t back down if the appeals court doesn’t rule in their favor.
Both DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe feel like they’ve followed the rules with their agreement and that no laws were broken. Despite the U.S. District Judge siding with the owners of the Magic City Casino, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see things go right for Florida. It’s no secret that sports betting is needed, as folks are tired of not being able to take advantage of legal laws. Right now, things remain illegal, which is frustrating.
This time of the year, people are consistently checking out the NFL betting odds, hoping they’d be able to make Super Bowl betting wagers. Despite no teams in Florida being among the squads with the highest Super Bowl odds, that doesn’t mean that fans wouldn’t love to take a splash at trying to guess the winner early on. With the NBA, the Miami Heat are hoping to surprise plenty of people later on in the season.
Despite all the success for Florida teams around the year, betting can’t be legally done, but this is something DeSantis wants to change as soon as possible. With him being reelected as governor, he has made it quite clear that he wants to get things over the line. The Seminole Tribe feels the exact same way. Once the appeals court makes its decision, there will either be a lot of relief or anger on the way. How will things go?
Illegal betting must stop soon in Florida
It goes without saying, but illegal betting must stop soon in Florida. This is something we’ve brought up several times. Just like California sports betting, Florida is also dealing with loads of illegal activity. Police and FBI agents are consistently on the watch for new sports betting rings to open up, and we’ve seen quite a bit of them being shut down over the years. There’s been progress in limiting them, but they’re still active.
The longer Florida goes without sports betting, though, the more concerns there’s going to be. We’ve seen several new states launch sports betting over the past year, resulting in a whole lot of success. Over in Ohio, things were launched on Jan. 1 and the betting numbers have been quite impressive – people are rushing to get their wagers in, which is obviously a major benefit for everyone involved.
This is the hope for Florida, but no one knows if 2023 will be the year for legal betting or not. Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that the appeals court will rule in favor of Florida. If that happens, then we can expect a quick turnaround for betting to get going for everyone in the state. We can’t wait for the day that happens.
These one-legged fadeaways from Vic 👀 pic.twitter.com/KjxpseVkg4
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 5, 2023
