In a major victory for the Seminole Tribe, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to overturn a 30-year, multibillion-dollar contract that gives the tribe control of sports betting across Florida.
The Supreme Court rejected a challenge brought by two pari-mutuel companies. The order, as is customary, did not explain the justices’ reasons but noted that Justice Brett Kavanaugh supported the dismissal of the case. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused himself.
The decision keeps control of online sports betting in the hands of the Seminole Tribe and was included in a 2021 compact signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. and approved by the state Legislature.
A Seminole spokesman said the tribe “applauds” the Supreme Court’s decision. The gambling agreement, known as the compact, could earn Florida at least $2.5 billion in the first five years and billions more in future years.
“This means the Seminole Tribe and all Florida residents can look forward to the bright future made possible by the compact,” spokesman Gary Bitner said in an email.
Experts say the Supreme Court’s decision could indefinitely tighten tribes’ control over sports betting.
“The status quo is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, at least for several years, possibly 30 years,” Daniel Wallach, an attorney who specializes in online gambling, told the News Service of Florida.
The lawsuit focuses on the compact’s “hub-and-spoke” system, which allows the Seminole Tribe to accept bets anywhere in the state, but the bets are placed through servers on tribal lands. The compact states that “wagers placed through mobile apps and other electronic devices shall be deemed to be placed exclusively by the Tribe.”
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the agency that oversees tribal gaming, has allowed the agreement to go into effect.
Lawyers for the pari-mutuel companies West Flagler Associates and Bonita Fort Myers Inc. have filed a federal lawsuit challenging her decision, arguing that the compact allows gambling off tribal lands, violating a federal law known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
A federal district court judge agreed with the pari-mutuel companies in 2021, but a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned that decision in June. After the appeals court declined to review the panel’s decision, the companies filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court in February.
West Flagler holds three jai alai licenses, and Bonita Fort Myers operates in Southwest Florida as the Bonita Springs Poker Room. Both companies have argued that the Seminoles’ sports betting operation would hurt their revenues. Representatives for both companies did not respond to questions Monday for comment.
Under the 30-year agreement, the Seminoles agreed to pay the state of Florida about $20 billion, with $2.5 billion paid in the first five years.
The compact also allowed the Seminole Tribe to offer craps and roulette at its casinos, and to add three casinos to tribal lands in Broward County, and also allowed pari-mutuel betting companies to contract with the Tribe to share in sports betting revenues.
The tribe introduced a sports betting app in November and launched craps and roulette at its casino in December.
Bittner said the Seminoles began making payments to the state in January and have paid more than $357 million under their revenue-sharing agreement, including Monday’s payment.
As the litigation moves forward in federal court, the companies and owner Isadore Havenick have asked the Florida Supreme Court to rule on whether the sports betting arrangement violates a part of the state constitution that requires voter approval for the expansion of gambling.
The justices unanimously ruled in March that the companies could not sue directly in the Florida Supreme Court.
The ruling did not address the substance of the lawsuit but denied the companies’ petition for what is called a “quo warrantyo,” Latin for “by what authority.”
In her 11-page opinion, Judge Meredith Sasso cited a 1920 decision and said quo warrantos have been used “to test the right to hold elective office or to exercise any right or privilege of special power derived from the state.”
“However, a quo warrant is not, and has never been, the proper means to obtain a declaration of the substantive constitutionality of a statute. Therefore, because the relief petitioners seek exceeds the scope of a quo warrant, we deny the petition,” Sasso wrote.
If the pari-mutuel betting companies decide to continue fighting the sports betting contracts, they could file state law challenges in circuit court, and they still have other avenues of litigation under federal law, Wallach said.
Wallach said the companies could challenge the compact on federal equal protection grounds, and they could also challenge rules adopted by the U.S. Department of the Interior earlier this year that allow states to enter into compacts similar to Florida’s with Indian tribes.
Meanwhile, Wallach predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court’s order on Monday “will have implications beyond online sports” and could pave the way for a significant expansion of online gambling.
“Using the same concise language, we would see an accelerated path to online casino gaming in Florida as early as next year or 2026,” Wallach said. “It appears that a significant barrier to online gaming within the state of Florida under the control of the Seminole Tribe would be removed.”
