New Florida Bill Would Punish Rigged Sports Bet

Another sports betting rigging scandal has come out. This latest one led to 20 people being charged, including 15 former NCAA student-athletes. Heck, this story even crossed borders, supposedly affecting a basketball league in China.

It’s another black eye to the legal sports betting industry. We’re at 39 out of 50 US states that offer some kind of legal wagering, including Florida. Because sports betting in Florida is entirely run by the Seminole Tribe, we don’t know how big the industry is (they don’t have to report numbers like other states with free markets). However, it’s widely believed to be one of the richest states for sports betting due to its size and affinity for sports.

And if Florida has its way, it might also become the most punishing state to illegally rig sports bets. That’s because there’s a brand-new bill floating around the state that would take an even harsher stance against the illegal betting that’s rocked the industry. Keep on reading, and we’ll tell you what the Sunshine State is cooking up.

Gambling Crackdown Underway In Florida

Meet HB 189. The bill just cleared the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on a 13–4 vote, putting it one step away from a full House vote. The bill is being pitched as a crackdown on illegal gambling — not just sports or rigged games, but even casino.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dana Trabulsy, says illegal gambling has gotten completely out of hand in the state. Beyond the headlines you’ve surely seen on ESPN involving point shaving, the state has also seen a proliferation of illegal slot machines. In restaurants. In gas stations. In strip malls. Online. It’s everywhere, says Trabulsy.

HB 189 would turn several gambling-related misdemeanors into felonies, create new felony charges for betting on games known to be rigged, and centralize all gambling authority at the state level. It would also slam the door on any internet gambling — including sports betting — that doesn’t run through the Seminole Tribe’s Hard Rock Bet platform. Other sports betting apps running in the state would be targeted here.

This is an aggressive bill, as aggressive as we’ve seen any state come after illegal betting. State Attorney General James Uthmeier has made it clear he thinks Florida has a growing “shadow gambling economy” problem. In his view, the state’s gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe created a clean, legal lane — and everything operating outside of that lane has been allowed to fester without real consequences.

When presenting the bill, Trabulsy cited data to speak to the problem — not just in-state, but countrywide. Citing an American Gaming Association analysis, she said illegal and unregulated gambling now makes up nearly a third of the entire U.S. gaming market. That underground industry is pulling in an estimated $53.9 billion a year, while states collectively miss out on roughly $15.3 billion in tax revenue. That’s the math driving this bill — and why Florida lawmakers seem increasingly willing to put a lid on this.

Florida Marred By Illegal Betting Scandals

In early November, Florida had a tie to the betting scandal that rocked the NBA. Miami Heat player Terry Rozier was arrested for allegedly fixing bets on his personal performance in games. The accusations stemmed from his time with the Charlotte Hornets — not the Heat — but still, the headlines clearly say Miami player involved.

But here’s the thing: the state had another illegal betting scandal at the time. It flew under the radar because it didn’t involve NBA players, but it was no small thing, and something that surely influenced the new bill.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office teamed up with the Florida Gaming Commission to raid two local arcades, walking away with 134 illegal slot machines and more than $22,000 in cash. Royal Arcade on South Cleveland Avenue lost 72 machines and about $3,100, while Spinners Arcade on San Carlos Boulevard was hit even harder, with 62 machines and nearly $20,000 seized.

This bust isn’t an outlier either. A similar thing happened the year before in Daytona Beach. Local police seized roughly 40 suspected gambling machines from a commercial spot along International Speedway Boulevard, where the Daytona 500 is raced.

All this is to say, illegal betting is happening, and most of it is small-time stuff being done — not athletes and coaches rigging professional games. The small-time stuff adds up to hundreds of millions of dollars not being spent at Hard Rock casinos and sportsbooks, which is the only legal place to bet these things in-state.

That’s not to say HB 189 would stop illegal betting completely. It won’t — there’s too much money to be made here for it stop cold turkey. But… it would heavily penalize it. The hope is that the stiff penalties would be enough to at least put a lid on how much illegal betting is done. Assuming the bill is passed, only time will tell if that turns out to be true.