Leaders of the Seminole Tribe of Florida call it a “win-win” agreement with a pari-mutuel company that ends litigation over a 2021 agreement that gives the tribe statewide control over online sports betting. announced on Monday.
Parimutuel companies West Flagler Associates and Bonita Fort Myers Corp. have lost in state and federal court over their sports betting scheme.
The agreement announced Monday also includes the Seminole Tribe. West Flagler Associates; Bonita Fort Myers Inc.; Southwest Florida Enterprises Inc.; Isadore Havenick, owner of Paris Mutuels, according to a news release.
The pari-mutuel company has agreed “not to pursue any further litigation regarding the Seminole Tribe’s gaming operations,” the release states.
Additionally, as part of the deal, jai alai, provided by Battle Court Jai Alai LLC, which is affiliated with West Flagler, will be available on the Seminoles betting app in early 2025.
Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen said the deal is a “win-win agreement” for the tribe and the company.
“Rather than becoming embroiled in years of further litigation, this agreement allows the parties to work together to promote jai alai, which has played an important role in Florida’s gaming community for nearly 100 years. “That’s what happens,” Allen said.
The companies’ lawsuit challenged parts of a 30-year gaming agreement known as the Compact that the tribes signed with the state. The agreement includes a “hub-and-spoke” provision that allows the Seminole Tribe to accept mobile sports wagering anywhere in the state, with wagers run through servers located on tribal lands.
The pari-mutuel companies argued in part that the hub-and-spoke provisions violated federal law regulating gaming on tribal lands. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the companies’ appeal of the court’s decision that upheld the multibillion-dollar deal.
Parimutuel and Havenick also asked the Florida Supreme Court to rule on whether the sports betting arrangement violates the part of the state constitution that requires voter approval for expanded gambling.
In March, the justices unanimously ruled that companies cannot sue directly in the Florida Supreme Court. Under the agreement, the tribes agreed to pay the state of Florida about $20 billion, including $2.5 billion over the first five years of the agreement.
The agreement also allowed the Seminole Tribe to offer games such as craps and roulette in tribal casinos.
The Seminole Tribe began moving forward with sports betting last fall, after the tribe’s expansion of gambling was on hold for more than two years amid a legal battle over sports betting regulations.
