A Florida gaming watchdog could be considering new rules that may help resolve customer complaints arising from the coming start of in-person sports betting at Seminole Tribe casinos in the Sunshine State.
The Florida Gaming Control Commission met last Thursday and, among other things, executive director Louis Trombetta asked for and received authority to file a notice of rule development, if necessary.
Trombetta noted the 2021 gaming compact agreed to between the state and the Seminole Tribe required the parties to work together on a dispute-resolution process for unhappy gamblers.
That same compact authorized the Seminole to offer craps and roulette at their casinos in Florida. It also granted the tribe control over retail and online sports betting in the state, although the mobile component is being challenged in the courts.
The Seminole announced last week that they intend to launch the new games at their casinos starting in early December, which could potentially create the need to resolve disputes over craps or retail sports betting.
“I'd like my team to really look into this right now,” Trombetta told the commissioners. “We might not even do it. I'll have you an update on what we do by that Nov. 17 meeting. But if you give me the authority, then if we do need to go down that road, I could get that notice filed and we wouldn't have to wait."
Putting the compact to use
Trombetta didn’t provide additional detail on what sort of rules are being considered by the regulator. It’s also possible none are proposed; questions emailed by Covers to the commission's media line were not answered before this article was published.
Nevertheless, the 2021 compact states that patron disputes will first try to be resolved under the Seminole Tribe’s gaming code, but if a player is not satisfied after using those procedures, they could submit an appeal to the Florida Gaming Control Commission. The commission is supposed to work with the tribe to establish a process to review those appeals.
And the Seminole Tribe is soon about to start exercising the rights afforded to them under the compact in a big way. The Florida Gaming Control Commission, created in 2021 as part of the state-Seminole compact process, may be readying itself for any customer complaints that arise from the debut of the new games at the casinos.
Mobile MIA
However, what was not announced last week was a date for the return of Hard Rock Bet to Florida. The Seminole-owned online sportsbook briefly took bets in Florida in late 2021 after the passage of the gaming compact, but the mobile operator shut down following a court decision setting aside federal approval of the agreement.
There is an ongoing fight in both federal and state courts over the legality of the compact, particularly its online sports betting provisions. Two Florida gaming companies contend the mobile part of the compact violates the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act under which the deal was struck, among other things.
Retail yes, online no
An appeals court overturned the invalidation of the compact’s approval by the federal government earlier this year. That decision remains intact despite attempts by the gaming firms to pause the ruling while they seek a Supreme Court review of the matter.
Again, though, the main legal issue the cases revolve around has to do with online sports betting, not in-person wagering that the Seminole Tribe says will start in December at their casinos. Furthermore, the addition of craps and roulette has not drawn the same level of legal ire, which probably accounts for their looming launch as well.
It appears, for the moment anyway, that the tribe has enough legal cover to allow it to move forward with launching the new games at its casinos.
“The Seminole Tribe thanks the State of Florida, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Justice for defending our Compact,” said Marcellus Osceola Jr., chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, in a press release last week. “By working together, the Tribe, the State and the federal government achieved a historic legal victory.”
