Seminole Tribe Reaches Deal to End Legal Challenges Over Florida Sports Betting

After three years of legal battles, the Seminole Tribe’s control of the Sunshine State’s sports betting market is finally safe.

The tribe announced a new deal with West Flagler Associates to end its challenge of Florida’s gaming compact. The compact gives the Seminole complete control of the sports betting market, making its Hard Rock Bet platform the only one available to bettors. West Flagler had filed several lawsuits since 2021 challenging this decision, keeping sports betting on hold in the state for around two years. However, the challenges ended when the US Supreme Court decided against a full hearing of West Flagler’s case. 

West Flagler, representing pari-mutuel operators in the state, agreed to end its lawsuits in exchange for sportsbooks offering wagering for the Battle Court Jai Alai league. The group is affiliated with the minor league and hopes that the ability to wager on it will lead to a spike in interest in the state.

“Rather than engaging in years of additional litigation, this agreement will allow the parties to work together to promote jai alai, which has played an important role in Florida’s gaming landscape for nearly 100 years,” Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen said.

While the pari-mutuels had wanted the ability to get in on the sports betting industry, this deal represents an impressive consolation prize as West Flagler attempts to grow the once-popular sport of jai alai.

Seminole Tribe Looks to Expand Florida Market

The Seminole Tribe has had a busy month as it looks to grow Florida’s new sports betting market. That was a driving reason behind its deal with West Flagler, ending any chance the industry could once again be put on hold and allowing it to invest in the market more confidently. 

In addition to ending the legal threat, the tribe has begun talks with FanDuel and DraftKings over launching in the state. The industry leaders would pay the tribe a percentage to operate. Cutting in other operators will initially hurt Hard Rocks’ Bet success, but the tribe believes big-name operators could attract more residents and visitors to bet on sports.

Florida is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the US, and many visiting bettors will already have accounts with FanDuel or DraftKings. Hard Rock is not as widely available as its two rivals, giving visitors less incentive to download the app and make a deposit during their visits to the Sunshine State.