Chris Boline
When it comes to the uncertainty of Florida Sports betting, perhaps no one is more invested than the Hard Rock. Remember, the Hard Rock launched online mobile sports betting in the Sunshine State last year, but then things were shut down by the U.S. District Judge. Despite that, the Hard Rock has seen its online sports betting presence expand, and they have no signs of slowing down. With that, though, the Hard Rock remains hopeful of Florida sports betting to arrive.
In a recent interview, the company told betting experts that their expansion plans were never laid out to solely focus on Florida. Having said that, the 30-year pact that was agreed upon by The Seminole Tribe and Governor Ron DeSantis opened up a lot of eyes and had plenty of officials excited about the growth of sports betting in Florida. With things in limbo, though, it has people scratching their heads.
However, there’s hope that an appeal will rule in favor of Florida and The Seminole Tribe, or that if things reach the Supreme Court, that sports betting can return to Florida then. This is all something the Hard Rock is monitoring closely, as you better believe that they’ll be ready to get things back up and running ASAP once good news arrives from the courts. This is something everyone is keeping their fingers crossed for.
“Our overarching strategy is the same as it’s been from day one, before Florida even became a planned launch, which is to take Hard Rock, one of the world’s most recognizable brands, and bring it to digital casino, sportsbook, and social games players,” Executive managing director Matt Primeaux said according to a report.
JUST IN: West Flagler files its Answer Brief with the DC Circuit in the Florida sports betting compact appeal. It’s 63 pages, longer than ordinarily permitted because it is responding to briefs from 2 different appellants — the Department of the Interior and Seminole Tribe. pic.twitter.com/0gLEvcUj3X
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) October 6, 2022
Hard Rock will be a major player once Florida sports betting is allowed
It goes without saying, but Hard Rock will be a major player once Florida sports betting is allowed down the road. In recent weeks, the general feeling is that it’s only a matter of time before there’s a 180 with the ruling for legal sports betting in the state. Around 18 months ago, the excitement for Florida sports betting had never been higher. DeSantis and The Seminole Tribe had things all laid out, with plenty of support from people.
Then, multiple lawsuits came in, which was a bummer. Despite that, Hard Rock indeed did launch its legal sports betting app, which thousands of people took advantage of. All of the people who signed up and made bets really made folks realize just how much potential sports betting had. People were rushing to check the NFL betting odds last fall when the Hard Rock app was up and running.
Can you imagine how much excitement there’d be right now if it was live? People would be all over the Super Bowl betting odds, as we are now in the second half of the season. Sure, the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs might have the best odds, but people all over Florida will always have high betting interest in the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Miami Dolphins.
Those three Florida teams in particular, have a wild fanbase who love betting on them. The Hard Rock knows all about this, which is why they’ll be ready to run all kinds of promotions to try and bring in new customers once betting is made legal. This is what so many people are hoping for, but the big-time fail of California sports betting has people worried too. So, will Florida betting come to fruition?
🐆 x 🐧 https://t.co/EPx6Ff11Og
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) November 10, 2022
No one knows when Florida sports betting will arrive
What has made things so frustrating for people out there is that no one knows when Florida sports betting will arrive. Although there has been a positive movement in the fight for the appeal, things could end up being dragged out in court for a while. The best-case scenario would be that legal sports betting is permitted in Florida in early 2023, sometime in January would of course, be the best.
However, there has also been plenty of speculation saying that Floridians might have to wait until 2024, or worst-case until 2025. Let us be the first to say that a wait until 2025 would be a total nightmare. This would be more than two years of waiting, on top of all the lost time from the past for the good folks of Florida. They should not have to keep traveling outside of the state to make their bets. People are tired of doing this and understandably so. Enough is enough.
As we mentioned above, though, the disappointing results from the November ballot in California has citizens in Florida down in the dumps about their potential, as Florida and California are pretty much hand-in-hand in the battle to legalize betting. However, you must remember that Florida previously launched betting and an agreement was reached by the state and The Seminole Tribe. This could end up making a difference in courts, but it’s up in the air when that will end up happening.
