Florida attorney Daniel Wallach submitted an amicus curiae brief Monday, supporting West Flagler’s efforts to halt Florida’s current sports betting structure.
Wallach’s 32-page filing addresses the crucial question of whether the compact between Florida and the Seminole Tribe, which the online sports betting site Hard Rock Bet is currently operating under, lawfully authorized off-reservation tribal gaming operations.
The brief cites Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s statement in October that “if the compact authorized the Tribe to conduct off-reservation gaming operations, either directly or by deeming off-reservation gaming operations to somehow be on-reservation, then the compact would likely violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).”
Wallach argues in his brief that “the compact indisputably 'authorized' off-reservation tribal gaming operations, including online sports betting, and therefore violates IGRA.”
The importance of IGRA
The interpretation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, a federal law from 1988 that permits tribes to conduct gaming on their sovereign lands, will continue to hold sway over the validity of Florida sports betting.
Wallach’s brief notes the “Indian lands” limitation in IGRA which essentially confines gambling activities - including sports betting - to tribal properties. As it is interpreted now, the compact grants the Seminole Tribe exclusive rights to offer online sports betting throughout the state as long as the wagers on Hard Rock Bet are processed by servers located on tribal land.
Governor Ron DeSantis issued his own press release when he signed the compact that it “modernizes the gaming industry through the authorization of sports betting in Florida through the Tribe.”
Wallach argues that this interpretation, and any like it, is fundamentally flawed and is reason enough for the highest court in the land to take up this case.
He even suggests the Supreme Court reverse the D.C. Circuit court ruling that the IGRA can “address” tribal gaming activities outside of Indian lands. Specifically, he’s requesting the Court to enter a summary disposition under Rule 16.1 on the merits reversing the decision of the D.C. Circuit insinuating that the lower court’s interpretation is “both incorrect and inconsistent with clear instruction in the precedents of the Court.”
The background
This is just the latest domino to fall in what has been a tumultuous and drawn out legal battle over online sports betting in Florida. The Sunshine State presents a major economic opportunity in the legal sports betting industry, but as it stands, the Seminole Tribe has an uncontested monopoly on the space through the 2021 gaming company that gave it statewide sports betting rights.
West Flagler is a Florida-based parimutuel operator which filed a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court earlier in February. West Flagler previously sought a stay of a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that effectively reinstated the gaming compact that enabled online sports betting in Florida. The bid was rejected.
West Flagler also brought an argument before the Florida Supreme Court stating its belief that voters have the right to approve all casino gambling expansion under Florida’s Amendment 3, which would include online sports betting. A decision still looms in this particular case.
Online sports betting in Florida initially launched after Governor DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe approved the 30-year gaming compact in 2021.
However, a District of Columbia court ruling in December 2021 found that the compact violated IGRA, and Hard Rock Bet was taken offline. The Department of the Interior eventually allowed the compact to be approved under IGRA though and the D.C. Circuit court upheld this approval in 2023, which helped Hard Rock Bet to relaunch in November.
