Chris Boline
This is nothing but good news for fans of Florida sports betting, as Governor Ron DeSantis isn’t going anywhere. He was able to win his reelection in Florida and he’s focused on continuing to make some major moves for the Sunshine State. This includes legalizing sports betting. That’s right, Ron DeSantis is focused on Florida sports betting after reelection, and this is obviously huge for The Seminole Tribe as well.
As soon as he was reelected, DeSantis, per a report, acknowledged how things were left unsettled for sports betting in the state. This is something that he’s not too happy about, as DeSantis and The Seminole Tribe reached their 30-year pact a while ago. From their chair, they were hoping that things would be rocking right now and that the state would be able to reap the benefits of massive sports betting revenues.
Instead, the lawsuit remains up in the air from the Magic City Casino group, as people are waiting to see whether or not things are flipped in the court of appeals or in the Supreme Court. For DeSantis, he has worked so hard to bring sports betting to Florida and he’s not ready to give up on things just yet. With his name in the mix for the U.S. presidency too, he surely wants to make sure things get done in the near future.
“I felt very strongly that the Tribe’s Tampa casino is the most lucrative casino in the nation, and they were paying nothing to the state, so we were able to bargain with them,” DeSantis said on his deal with The Seminole Tribe. “In other words, the state will benefit greatly from the agreement we made. That’s what they wanted to do, so we let them. And I stated it because I think it would pass in a vote of the people.”
The 3-judge panel has been announced for the Dec. 14th oral argument in West Flagler Assocs. v. Haaland (aka the Florida sports betting compact appeal):
Karen LeCraft Henderson
(1990 – Bush)Robert L. Wilkins
(2014 – Obama)J. Michelle Childs
(2022 – Biden)#DCCircuit pic.twitter.com/yoEyigg2kc— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) November 14, 2022
Florida sports betting must arrive in the near future
The reason DeSantis is so passionate about this is because he feels that Florida sports betting must arrive in the near future and it’s hard to argue with that. With so many sports teams in the state, sports betting feels like it would be a home-run move for Florida. When The Seminole Tribe and Hard Rock launched its online mobile app for a short period of time, the success was no question through the roof.
Then things were shut down and nothing has been the same since. There was some concern that although it was unlikely that potentially DeSantis wasn’t going to get reelected. If that were to happen, things really could have gone south for potential sports betting in Florida. However, now that DeSantis is back in office, you can fully expect him to go all in on getting something done.
This is something The Seminole Tribe is also excited about, as this is a topic they’re incredibly passionate about. With the lawsuit still on the table, there’s major hope that things will be turned around. Otherwise, we might have to wait until 2024 or 2025 for sports betting to arrive in Florda. No one, other than the Magic City Casino owners, wants to see that happen. This is why there’s a lot of urgency to see something change.
For now, though, we must wait and see how the opening hearings go for the appeal. If things do get flipped, then we could see sports betting get back on the docket for early 2023. With that said, there’s still a big chance that this makes its way to the Supreme Court, which would only delay things even more. This is all going to be something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks and months.
NFL betting on the rise must be taken into account for Florida
Looking at things from the bigger picture, DeSantis and Co. know that NFL betting on the rise must be taken into account for Florida. As we mentioned above, the Hard Rock was able to launch its betting app for a brief period of time and people rushed to check out the NFL betting odds and then place wagers. We saw how popular football betting was during that little stretch.
Imagine how big things would be on a consistent basis in Florida in terms of betting on pigskin action. With so many pro teams in Florida and surrounding states, it would motivate people to place bets on their favorite teams. This is something so many people are excited for – they’re just waiting for a final decision to be made here with the appeal.
This is only going to continue, as so many sports fans have a close eye on this. The good news here is that with DeSantis back in office, he’ll also be following things closely and do what he can to help things happen .With the first hearings coming, it will give us a good idea as to whether or not the courts will rule in favor of DeSantis and The Seminole Tribe. We can’t wait to find out what’s decided.
"Everything will be determined by what we do going forward, and I think that's important for us all to realize."
🗣️: @TomBrady pic.twitter.com/Rto4Zt1NEa
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) December 2, 2022
