Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To DeSantis' Multibillion Agreement For Online Sports Betting In Florida

CNN -
The Supreme Court turned down an emergency situation bid Wednesday to block a multibillion-dollar contract between Florida and the Seminole Tribe to provide online sports betting throughout the state.


The court's order suggests that sports wagering could quickly be offered in Florida, although other pending legal challenges in state courts could affect the precise timing.


T he arrangement, or "compact," was championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, authorized by the US Department of the Interior and is slated to generate $2.5 billion in brand-new income over the next five years and an estimated $6 billion through 2030.


Justice Brett Kavanaugh composed independently to state that he appreciated the court's action, but questioned whether the offer might raise different concerns under state law. He made clear, however, that concerns under state law were not "directly provided" in the current application brought by other betting business.


The court's short order could set off other states and people to pursue comparable deals.


Back in 2018, Florida voters approved a referendum that changed the Florida Constitution to guarantee that any type of casino betting would just be permitted in the state through a separate referendum - to take power to approve such activity far from the state legislature.


But the 2018 referendum particularly sculpted out betting and other gaming worked out through a compact between tribes and the state - so long as the compact was approved by the federal government.


In 2021, the Seminole Tribe of Florida participated in an agreement with the state under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that allowed the tribe to provide online sports betting throughout the state as long as the servers receiving the wagers were located on tribal ground.


The following month, DeSantis signed a law that approved the compact between the two parties. The Department of Interior did not block the deal, which had the exact same legal result as if it formally authorized it.


Other betting facilities, however, filed suit, arguing that the compact was unlawful under the IGRA because that law just allowed wagering on tribal lands. They submitted match versus the Interior Department, arguing that the compact need to not have been approved in the very first .


A district court consented to block the compact but was reversed by a federal appeals court based in Washington, DC. The appeals court said that the secretary of Interior had not exceeded her authority in allowing the arrangement.