Two pari-mutuel companies have “asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a 2021 deal giving the Seminole Tribe control over sports betting in Florida,” according to Dara Kam of the NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA. The companies last week “sought Supreme Court review of an appellate court’s decision upholding the deal,” which "could reap Florida at least $2.5 billion over the next five years and is also the subject of a legal challenge at the Florida Supreme Court.” The federal lawsuit is “focused on part of the 2021 deal between the tribe and the state that allowed the Seminoles to control sports betting throughout Florida.” U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose agency oversees tribal gambling, allowed the deal, known as a compact, to go into effect. But the Florida companies “challenged her decision, arguing that the compact violates a federal law known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act because it authorizes gambling off tribal lands.” The companies also contend the “hub-and-spoke” sports betting arrangement with the Seminoles “violates a state constitutional amendment requiring voter approval of gambling expansions,” an issue that “is the focus of the Florida Supreme Court case." Under the three-decade compact, the Seminoles "agreed to pay" Florida about $20B, including $2.5B “over the first five years of the agreement.” The tribe in November “rolled out a sports betting app,” then later on Jan. 18 “paid nearly” $57.8M to the state in its first monthly payment in the deal (NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA, 2/13).
