TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida joined the dozens of states that have authorized mobile sports betting Wednesday as legislators wrapped up their special session and ratified an agreement with the Seminole Tribe in the broadest expansion of gambling in a decade in Florida.
But don't expect to start wagering on your favorite sports teams for a while.
Federal regulators must approve the deal, which expands the gambling monopoly in Florida for the Seminole Tribe, to make sure its guarantee of $500 million in revenue sharing with the state is fair to the tribe and legal for the state.
"Congratulations on an historic compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida," said Rep. Chris Sprowls, a Palm Harbor Republican, at the conclusion of the vote, adding that the complex proposal "was a difficult one to navigate."
The measure, negotiated with the tribe by Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, is fraught with precedent-setting implications for the nation and Native American tribes, and a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality is anticipated.
If the state clears those hurdles, anyone in Florida over age 21 can start playing the games on their cellphone on Oct. 15. The Seminole Tribe's Hard Rock casinos in Broward and Hillsborough counties also will have full Las Vegas-style casinos with the addition of roulette and craps, and mobile sports betting will be allowed through online apps managed by the tribe as well as Florida's existing racetracks and jai-alai frontons.
"We're going to allow the Seminole Tribe to offer sports betting where you can be sitting in your bathtub or sitting on your couch, thinking about a football game and you can make a wager, regardless of where you physically are, on your cellphone,'" said Rep. Randy Fine, a Palm Bay Republican and House chair of the Selecting Committee on Gaming.
The state Senate approved the compact after an hourlong discussion Tuesday, with a 38-1 vote. State Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republicn, was the lone no vote, and state Sen. Randolph Bracy, an Orlando Democrat, did not vote.
The House approved the deal Wednesday on a 97-17 vote after refusing to address a series of Democratic amendments that attempted to direct the spending of proceeds from the tribe to education and other social service programs. It was an attempt to keep the money from what state Rep. Joe Geller, an Aventura Democrat, called "tax breaks for rich guys or the corporations the rich guys own."
The biggest winner is the Seminole Tribe, which has used its operation of the Hard Rock Casino and resort to build a gambling empire that is becoming one of the largest gaming operators in the world. The tribe will continue to operate slot machines, black jack and chemin de fer and raffles and drawings at its existing casinos and will now have the ability to build three new casinos at its existing property near Hollywood in Broward County.
Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen has estimated that operating full casino games will allow it to cover $400 million of the $500 million it has guaranteed to the state in revenue sharing. If federal regulators allow it to also operate sports betting, that activity is expected to cover the remaining $100 million of the guarantee.
Because Florida voters approved Amendment 3 in 2018 and required voter approval of any expansion of gambling in Florida, the biggest unknown is whether the introduction of a new "hub and spoke model" is constitutional.
That model requires the tribe to handle all sports betting conducted anywhere in the state through an internet server on its tribal lands, but sports betting can occur anywhere in the state on mobile apps. The compact also allows licensed racetracks and jai alai facilities located outside tribal borders to build their own apps, take 60% of the proceeds from each bet even though the bet goes through the tribe's server.
"As we've said from day one, and as the parties have contemplated, it is an open question," said Rep. Sam Garrison, a Fleming Island Republican and a lawyer who was advising state Rep. Bobby Payne, an Ocala Republican, who sponsored the bill to ratify the compact.
"There is no black and white answer whether the hub and spoke model is going to be permitted or not," Payne said.
Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the state may enter into a compact with a tribe to authorize gambling but only if they occur "on Indian lands." However, the IGRA describes that to mean "all lands within the limits of any Indian reservation" or lands held in trust by the United States for the intended benefit of the Indian tribe.
Fine, a former gambling executive, said he doesn't think the sports betting component will survive, thereby triggering the compact's severabiity clause, whereby the tribe will continue its roulette and craps and pay the state a commensurate amount, but sports betting won't happen.
That will "guarantee a tribal monopoly over all in-person sports betting and eliminating all mobile wagering originating off of tribal lands and all parimutuel participation in sports betting," said Daniel Wallach, a gambling consultant who has studied Florida's laws. He argues it is the likely outcome because of precedent under federal law.
South Florida Democrats pressed House Republicans to clarify a provision in the compact that says the tribe would not object to moving licenses within 15 miles of an existing casino in Broward County. The language is seen as intended to open the door for former President Donald Trump to obtain a gambling license in Miami and transfer it to his Doral resort and for Jeffrey Soffer, the real estate mogul, who has long sought to transfer his casino permit from The Big Easy Casino in Hallandale Beach to the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach, but it is vigorously opposed in the community.
"Do you have confidence there cannot be a casino in Doral or Miami Beach?" asked state Rep. Nick Duran, a Miami Democrat.
Payne answered, "Yes, we do have confidence and feel that will be enforced."
State Rep. Michael Grieco, a Miami Beach Democrat, argued that the compact has removed "one of many hurdles" by including a statement that the tribe will not object if a license is transferred from one parimutuel to another within 15 miles of its Hard Rock casino in Broward County.
Payne responded that "current law wouldn't allow you to move slots under the current Constitution."
Grieco suggested that if the House held a secret ballot, the conservative Republicans in the House would vote against the measure, which has been heavily lobbied by DeSantis.
"This is going to go through. I can't stop the train," Grieco said after Democrats allowed Republicans to waive the rules and bring the bill to a vote of the full House without delaying another day.
"I know there's a bunch of people who are going to vote up on this that don't want to," he said. "Any scenario that anyone is going to vote up on this and thinks we're not voting for the expansion of gaming, I don't think that's an intellectually honest position to take."
Democrats also complained that many of them were "locked out of the process" as the legislation has been fast-tracked amid the questionable legal issues as lawmakers adjourned the weeklong session after three days.
"I cannot vote to ratify this contract and teach you that you can lock me and my colleagues out of this process and teach you that we can have a meaningful voice on such an important deal for the people of Florida," said Rep. Omari Hardy, a West Palm Beach Democrat.
As a companion to the gambling deal, the House and Senate also approved legislation to create a new five-member state Gaming Control Commission that will be the home to a law enforcement arm to root out illegal gambling, such as gray market slot machines at so-called "internet cafes." The House approval is still pending.
The Senate passed the gaming commission on a 26-13 vote, after it was amended to remove a provision that would have placed a two-year buffer before legislators can serve on the commission. The House approved the same bill 108-7.
"Shouldn't we have a little distance between the last PAC check and your next vote on the commission?" asked Brandes.
Brandes also voted against creating the Gaming Control Commission after raising concerns that it will be a panel for legislators to retire and make $136,000 a year or be used to hire their friends and relatives.
"This entity will become political," he warned. "This entity will have commissioners who basically have a job that they don't really have to show up for. They will meet quasi regularly and they will hear about some backroom card deal that some local sheriff brought down and they will make some decision over it. What are they going to do all day long?"
