Chris Boline
Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the situation for Florida sports betting has been an absolute mess over the past year. Yup, that’s been a given. With that said, The Seminole Tribe and Ron DeSantis refuse to give up on their dreams of seeing betting come to fruition, though it’s looking like things may be delayed in Florida until 2024. Having said that, the Seminole Tribe and Governor still working on Florida sports betting is no surprise.
According to a report, not only are the two sides still working and hoping to get things resolved by 2023 for the sports betting, but the tribe is also backing DeSantis in his quest to get back into office for another go. Later this year, there’s going to be the elections for Florida Governor and DeSantis is hoping to win over the hearts of the voters.
He’s gotten some help from The Seminole Tribe, as they’ve donated another $1 million toward his campaign. In total, this now brings the donations from the tribe for DeSantis – for this year’s new campaign – to $3 million. Obviously, this is no short amount of change and it has caught the attention of people all over the state in a big way.
Don’t forget that DeSantis and the tribe teamed up for their historic, 30-year pact which gave the group exclusive rights to operating sports betting in Florida. While things haven’t been able to launch in the manner that people were hoping for, there’s still some outside hope that this will change soon. Obviously, DeSantis being reelected will play a major role in things too.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida, which last year reached a gambling deal with Gov. Ron DeSantis, contributed $1 million to his political committee on Aug. 1, according to a newly filed finance report.https://t.co/kJBSTMyRgz
— Tampa Bay Times (@TB_Times) August 12, 2022
DeSantis is ready to push for Florida sports betting
It goes without saying, but DeSantis is ready to push for Florida sports betting and it’s a big reason why he’s gained plenty of more supporters on his side leading up to November. Once the elections do arrive in the fall, the expectation is that DeSantis will get reelected, but there’s also plenty of people who are not happy with him right now too.
The whole sports betting fiasco has been frustrating for so many different folks out there. One day there’s a report that says things could be close, while another day there’s an announcement that it might be another two years for things to come to fruition. No one knows what to believe and at the end of the day, DeSantis is responsible for what’s going on in the state.
When the deal between The Seminole Tribe and Florida was agreed upon, everything was put in place for the sports betting to arrive. People were checking out the top NFL betting sites, NBA odds, MLB odds and so much more. People were quick to check the sportsbooks too as they were itching at the idea of being able to place legal wagers without any issues.
Then once the lawsuits came in, everything halted. Things were only made worse for sports fans out there when the Hard Rock launched for a few weeks, only to have a U.S. District Judge shut everything down. This was a bad look as a whole for DeSantis, as he and his team were quite literally left at a loss for words with what was going down against them. DeSantis is hoping all the confusion won’t lead to too many votes against him.
M1️⃣K3️⃣ at 5️⃣3️⃣#NFLTop100 pic.twitter.com/0C60HTWTGM
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) August 15, 2022
Florida sports betting indeed could be delayed to 2024
With all of the above being said, the fact that Florida sports betting indeed could be delayed to 2024 is something that’s giving people nightmares in the state. A recent report suggested that the case between Florida and the U.S. judge could eventually have Florida’s betting battle going to the Supreme Court. If that does happen, then there’s a good chance that things won’t be settled by 2023.
Instead, it could result in ’24 being the earliest that we see legal sports betting come in. This isn’t what anyone wants to happen, especially with things being briefly launched in the fall of 2021. When things were shut down then, no one thought it would take nearly three years for legal sports betting to make its return to Florida. However, that could be the case.
Florida needs to figure things out as soon as possible. As we’ve mentioned before, illegal sports betting is only going to continue. If things don’t come until 2024, then you’re going to see even more illegal rings go into operation. Millions of dollars is being transferred illegally and in unregulated fashion. This is something the governor is fully aware of and he wants it to stop.
The only way for that to change, however, is for the legality of betting to arrive. Florida is one of the biggest states in the USA in terms of great sports teams. At the college level too, there’s so much action that people would love to dip their toes into when it comes to making wagers. DeSantis wants it come soon. Will it? No one knows right now, but hopefully we find out soon enough. It’s needed in Florida.
