State Argues Sports Betting Exempt from Voter Approval Under Tribal Compact
Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges the state’s agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which allows online sports betting across the state. The lawsuit, brought by Protect the Constitution, LLC in April, argues the deal violates a 2018 constitutional amendment designed to limit casino gambling.
The state’s 34-page motion, filed last week, asserts that Protect the Constitution lacks legal standing and that the tribe-run sports betting is permissible under the constitutional amendment, particularly because wagers are routed through servers located on tribal lands.
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The gambling compact, negotiated by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2021 and ratified by the Legislature, permitted the Seminole Tribe to offer mobile sports bets statewide, along with craps and roulette games at its casinos. This arrangement, which began in late 2023, is projected to bring at least $2.5 billion to the state over the first five years.
State attorneys emphasized in their motion that the agreement “ensures that hundreds of millions of dollars flow to the tribe each year” and provides “hundreds of millions more in annual revenue sharing accruing to the state.” They contend the constitutional challenge “fails as a matter of law.”
At the core of the dispute is the 2018 constitutional amendment, which states that Florida voters have “the exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling” via a citizens’ initiative. However, the amendment includes an exception for gambling conducted on tribal lands under compacts negotiated pursuant to the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
The state’s motion argues that the online sports betting system, with its server location on tribal property, falls within this exception. It also disputes that sports betting, as it existed in 2018, meets the amendment’s definition of “casino gambling,” noting it wasn’t typically offered in casinos at that time. Furthermore, the state argues that online sports betting was properly authorized through the compact, which is exempt from the citizen-initiative process.
Protect the Constitution, a Delaware company whose members claim financial harm from the compact, argues that online sports betting is now widespread in Florida without the required voter approval.
This lawsuit follows previous unsuccessful legal challenges by pari-mutuel companies West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. Their attempt to strike down the sports betting provision of the compact was rejected by the Florida Supreme Court in March 2024, not on its merits, but on procedural grounds. The current lawsuit, assigned to Judge Jonathan Sjostrom, proceeds through a more conventional circuit court process.
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