Florida sports betting lawsuits remain in flux after hearing
Additional government briefs forthcoming, with decision expected by November 15
A federal court hearing concerning online sports betting in Florida was marked by confusion and dissatisfaction on the part of the judge overseeing it, with government lawyers seemingly unprepared to argue the merits of a lawsuit brought by a parimutuel operator challenging the tribal compact that has paved the way for online sports betting in the state.
Mobile sports betting officially launched in Florida on November 1 in concert with the Seminole Tribe, but the tribe’s ability to continue to offer mobile betting will hinge on the outcome of the lawsuit. A primary issue is language in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) that requires tribal gaming to take place on “Indian lands.”
Although all of the computer servers processing bets are located on Seminole land, lawyers for the plaintiffs – Bonita Springs Poker Room – have argued that federal law is being violated because the bets themselves are being placed from all throughout the state.
Government lawyers appeared unwilling to take a position on that point, which did not sit well with Judge Dabney Friedrich.
“It’s hard not to sit here and think that the government’s whole litigation strategy here is to delay this court from ruling,” said Friedrich.
“What they have done is presented a compact that purports to be governing gaming on Indian land,” added attorney Hamish Hume, who represents the plaintiffs, “but in fact allows gaming off the land through the internet and trying to fit that within IGRA through this legal fiction of deeming the placing of sports bets [to be] exclusively on the land.”
One challenge to the state’s hub-and-spoke sports betting model – which was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe, and approved by the Department of the Interior – was already thrown out in October, and government lawyers may have been banking on a similar outcome to the current lawsuit.
Friedrich made it clear it wouldn’t be so simple, instructing the lawyers to file a brief detailing the government’s position on the merits of the case by November 9, adding that she would share her decision by November 15.