It may be called the Sunshine State, but lately, it’s looking pretty bleak for sports bettors in Florida.
The latest blow to efforts aimed at establishing a legal channel for online sports betting in Florida came Friday, when a political committee backed by DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Group said (more or less) that it would not get its initiative on the state's 2022 general election ballot.
Florida Education Champions was formed last June to try to garner enough support to get a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution on November's ballot. The amendment would allow sports betting at certain brick-and-mortar facilities and statewide via online sportsbooks.
However, it looks like that’s not going to happen. While Florida Education Champions said “more than one million Floridians” signed its petition, the committee issued a statement on Friday that suggests it ran into trouble trying to get the effort over the finish line.
Florida Education Champions needed 891,589 signed petitions by February 1 in order for its proposed amendment to make the ballot. According to the website for Florida's Division of Elections, the group had 481,206 valid signatures as of Friday afternoon.
“While pursuing our mission to add sports betting to the ballot we ran into some serious challenges, but most of all the COVID surge decimated our operations and ability to collect in-person signatures,” the political committee said in a statement posted Friday. “We want to thank our local Supervisors of Elections and staff members for their diligent work in verifying petitions.”
DraftKings and FanDuel have contributed more than $37 million combined to Florida Education Champions and its proposed amendment, which would have authorized sports betting at professional sports venues, pari-mutuel facilities, and via online sportsbooks. The tax revenues raised by that wagering would have gone towards education.
Tough luck
Friday's announcement is another hit for Florida sports bettors just looking for somewhere to get a legal wager down.
The signatures collected by Florida Education Champions in this election cycle wouldn't carry over to the next one. In other words, the committee and its sportsbook backers would have to go through the whole process again if they want to try and get their proposed amendment on the 2024 election ballot.
Interestingly, the Florida Education Champions’ amendment would have allowed for sports betting offered by Native American tribes that have a gaming compact with the state. The Seminole Tribe of Florida does have a compact with the state that allows for sports betting, but federal approval of that deal was struck down by a judge in November.
Furthermore, the Seminole had already launched their Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app in Florida and had begun taking wagers when the legal rejection came. The tribe would eventually shutter the sportsbook in the state in early December, although there is still an appeal attempt ongoing in the gaming-compact case.
In the meantime, Florida sports bettors are still without a legal option for sports betting.
“We will be considering all options in the months ahead to ensure that Floridians have the opportunity to bring safe and legal sports betting to the state, along with hundreds of millions of dollars annually to support public education,” Florida Education Champions said Friday.
