Following a few legal victories, online sports betting has returned to Florida — albeit only in a limited fashion.
The Hard Rock Bet mobile sportsbook relaunched in Florida Tuesday morning, nearly two years after it shut down in the state following a federal judge setting aside approval of a gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe, which owns the brand.
That ruling was reversed earlier this year by an appeals court, and attempts by two Florida gaming firms to pause the decision while they sought a Supreme Court review came up short, setting the stage for a return of Hard Rock Bet in the state.
"The Seminole Tribe is offering limited access to existing Florida customers to test its Hard Rock Bet platform,” a spokesperson told Covers on Tuesday.
— Hard Rock Bet (@HardRockBet) November 7, 2023
Exclusive rights to retail and online sports betting in Florida were granted to the Seminole via a 2021 compact between the tribe and the state. The tribe recently announced retail sports betting, craps, and roulette (which were also included in the compact) would debut at their six Florida casinos in December. Regulators began preparing accordingly.
However, absent from that press release was any word about online sports betting. Mobile wagering is the sticking point in an ongoing legal fight over sports betting in Florida, and there is still the possibility of both the U.S. Supreme Court and the state’s Supreme Court getting involved.
Nevertheless, the most recent legal decisions left the Seminole compact intact and approved, which was enough for the tribe to reopen the Hard Rock app in Florida on a limited basis.
Hard Rock users reported Tuesday morning that the app was back online in the state, and the sportsbook’s social media team, as is its wont, posted a clip of the WWE’s Undertaker to cement the news.
