The Biden administration publicly supports the recently scrapped Florida sports betting agreement between the state and the Seminole tribe. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Sports betting in Florida
The Biden administration is defending an appeals court to restore the agreement that gave the Seminole tribe control of sports betting in Florida.
The payment from the White House comes nine months after a Washington judge ruled that the agreement violated constitutional law. A brief submitted to the US Department of the Interior on Wednesday defended the president’s position.
The third most populous country and is expected to have a large betting market
Florida is the third most populous state in the United States and is expected to have a large betting market. Governor Ron DeSantis was on standby on legalization and now has significant support from Pennsylvania Avenue.
Why did the deal stop?
The Florida sports betting market lasted less than a month near the end of 2021. After Governor DeSantis signed a 30-year deal with Seminoles, it was challenged by the owners of various gambling rooms, which the court reconfirmed.
The deal included a “pivot-and-talk” model like the New Jersey one, which aims to transfer online bets to servers located on the home ground. The agreement stated that any bet placed “using a mobile app or other electronic device, shall be made exclusively by the tribe.”
In addition to dealing with sports betting, the Seminoles can also host craps and roulette games in their casinos. Furthermore, they can add three casinos to their property in Broward County. In return, they will pay the state $2.5 billion in the first five years and possibly more after the incident.
However, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that the arrangement violated the Indian Games Regulation Act (IGRA) because it allowed gambling outside tribal property, even if it was subsequently processed there. She also omitted other details in the deal, which she said were allowed by the mistake of Home Secretary Deb Haaland.
Haaland’s lawyers argued in a memo on Wednesday that Friedrich was wrong in her judgment because gambling is still legal only on tribal lands.
There is no duty – not even any authority – to reject an agreement that properly authorizes play.”
The United States said, “The Secretary has no duty — not even any authority — to reject the Agreement which validly authorizes Games to be played on Indian Territory simply because the Agreement also contemplates that the State will enact legislation allowing persons outside Indian Territory to participate in those Games.” Justice Department attorney representing Haaland.
The argument made by Haaland’s team at a briefing last year that supported a hybrid approach has also been changed. Instead, they now attacked the idea that Haaland focused only on activities in the tribal lands.
“The legality of any non-Indian land activities discussed in Charter is instead a matter of state law: if the courts ultimately decide that such activities are not authorized under state law, then such activities will not be permitted, no matter what the agreement contemplates,” the brief noted. .
arguments
Attorney Daniel Wallach, who specializes in gambling cases, said: Florida news service On Thursday, the government’s arguments “false characterization” of the case.
“They make factual assurances about the agreement that are belied by the clear language of the agreement. It is absolutely clear that the charter authorizes online sports betting, and this activity is what constitutes a violation of the IGRA.
In a separate memo filed on Wednesday, tribal lawyers argued that Friedrich erred by not allowing the tribe to contest the appeal. tribes have The right to sovereign immunity Which protects them from lawsuits.
The lawyers also maintained the tribe’s interest in preserving the original agreement.
crucial to resolving the continuing dispute between the tribe and equal facilities”
“[The tribe] He has a broad and particular interest in preserving the 2021 agreement, which is crucial to resolving the ongoing dispute between the tribe and the level playing field, and bridging the long-standing rift between tribe and state,” the Seminole lawyers wrote.
Supporters maintain that the agreement complies with the terms outlined in 2018, specifically by requiring a statewide vote.
The Seminoles launched a mobile betting app but shut it down after Friedrich’s decision. Florida got $187.5 million from October 2021 to February 2022 as part of the deal, but the tribe has since stopped payments.
Florida cannot put another sports betting metric on the ballot until 2024.
