Legal sports betting in Florida could now be delayed

Peter LewisPeter Lewis | September 20, 2021
FLORIDA

For months now, citizens in Florida have been counting down the days for Oct. 15 to arrive. Why, you ask? That’s the date when legal sports betting was supposed to get underway after the state and the Seminole Tribe of Florida reached their head-turning deal for them to take the lead on things. With that said, folks may have to wait a little longer, as legal sports betting in Florida could now be delayed.

This week, it was announced that there’s now a set date in the U.S. Federal Court to see whether or not Florida will be allowed to move forward with sports gambling. The opposition, led by West Flagler Associates, is strongly rooting against the Seminole Tribe and Florida pushing forward with their start date.

Originally, things indeed were going to be rocking on Oct. 15, but then the Seminole Tribe decided to push things back to Nov. 15. Now, this suit in the Federal Court is all set to be heard on Nov. 5, 10 days ahead of the new date the Tribe is eyeing. It goes without saying, but there will be millions of eyes on the decision being made in early November.

If things are given the green light, then the Seminole Tribe will be ready to move forward with its Nov. 15 start date. This will allow for countless sports fans to place all kinds of different wagers in. With the NFL set to be in full swing in November, plus college football and the NBA in action as well, there will be no better time to place wagers. Will that end up being allowed?

Will gambling in Florida be legal this fall?

The question everyone has on their mind is will gambling in Florida be legal this fall? Again, there was so much promise for this to happen just even a few weeks ago. People had Oct. 15 circled on their calendars for months, as it was expected to be the first day for things to get underway for people to take advantage of things.

With this new court case opening up, though, it’s now totally up in the air when things will get going. The Seminole Tribe’s Hard Rock’s in Tampa and other locations were getting prepared to make history on Oct. 15, but with everything in flux, people may have to end up waiting. This of course is going to be a major bummer because of all the sports in action right now.

With things originally set for the middle of October, it’d be right smack dab in the middle of the NFL season. Imagine all the folks who would have been fired up to check out the NFL odds via the Las Vegas sportsbooks and then get a wager in. On top of that, the MLB playoffs will also be in action, with the World Series set to be played as well.

On top of that, we’ve of course got to bring up college football, plus the start of the NBA regular season also being on the docket as well. It was just a dream date for bettors everywhere for Oct. 15 to have things being pushed through. Unfortunately for all the die-hard sports fans who also love betting, they will have to wait a little longer. Matter of fact, they might have to wait more than a year. Wait, what?

A delay in sports gambling would be catastrophic for Florida and the Seminole Tribe

It goes without saying, but a delay in sports gambling would be catastrophic for Florida and the Seminole Tribe moving forward. That’s because if the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs in this case, then people in Florida might have to wait until 2023 for sports betting to arrive to Florida at the earliest. Could you imagine if that were to happen? It would really be a back-breaking update for the state.

There’s a chance that things could be voted on in November of 2022, but again, the expectation would be that the earliest sports betting would arrive in Florida if there indeed is a delay would be 2023. This kind of a delay would have a major financial impact on the state and the Seminole Tribe. Also, don’t forget about the impact on local businesses. Remember, this isn’t only going to be positive for the Tribe.

With sports betting on the way to the state, it was only going to bring in even more tourists to Florida. This of course would result in Florida businesses receiving more money from those people who make their way over to Florida to visit different resorts, casinos and more to place wagers. Plus, online sports betting would have also been massive this fall. This is something that was kept in mind when pushing for the deal.

It would open up more jobs which of course is welcome news for everyone involved. This is why Governor Ron DeSantis was so excited to see this deal go through with the Seminole Tribe, as he knows just how beneficial it would have been for everyone involved. Soon enough, we’ll find out what exactly is going to happen here, but there sure are a lot of nerves in Florida. We’ll see if things go through or not.

Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis Jr. comes from Mississippi where he and his family spend their days discussing college football and basketball. He's written sports journalism for years after studying journalism at a local university.