On Monday, November 22, a Washington, D.C. federal court vacated U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s approval of the 2021 Florida-Seminole Tribal Gaming Compact (the Compact), thereby invalidating the Compact in its entirety. Because the Compact has been invalidated, Florida’s Seminole Indian Tribe (the Tribe) no longer has the right to conduct retail and online sports betting in Florida, nor can it offer the in-person craps and roulette games that had also been authorized under the agreement. As we reported previously, the legal controversy surrounding the Compact arose primarily from the provision authorizing the Tribe to accept mobile sports wagers initiated by patrons located within the state of Florida but outside of tribal lands, by “deeming” wagering initiated outside of tribal lands to occur at the Seminole’s tribal gaming facilities. continue reading
Zachery Roth Archives
One of Three Lawsuits Challenging Florida’s Online Sports Betting Compact Dismissed
As the Seminole Tribe’s anticipated November 15 online betting “launch” approaches, there has been a flurry of activity in the three lawsuits challenging the online sports betting provisions in the 2021 Seminole Tribal-State Gaming Compact (the Compact) and the corresponding state law ratifying the Compact (the Implementing Law). On Monday, October 18, a Florida federalcontinue reading
Three California Ballot Initiatives Seek Legalization of Sports Betting in 2022
As more states take steps to legalize sports betting, all eyes are on the nation’s most heavily populated state — California. Unlike many of the states where sports betting is – or will soon be – legal, California’s constitution does not give its legislature the power to authorize “lotteries,” a term that includes “games of chance” like sports betting. Accordingly, before the state can take steps to legalize sports betting, California’s constitution must be amended.
US Department of Interior Approves Connecticut’s Expanded Gaming Compacts
On Thursday, September 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Interior approved Connecticut’s amended state-tribal gaming compacts with the Mohegan and Mashantucket-Pequot Tribes, bringing Connecticut another step closer to an expanded gaming “launch.” As we reported previously, the amended compacts were negotiated alongside the state’s new expanded gaming law and allow the Tribes to offer sports betting and daily fantasy sports contests on tribal land. Although the expanded gaming law was enacted in May 2021, its provisions do not take effect until the Department approves the amended compacts and publishes notice of the decisions in the Federal Register.