Decision in Florida sports betting case not expected before 2023
DC Circuit Court outlines timetable for Seminole Tribe’s legal appeal to mobile betting suspension
Mobile sports betting won’t be returning to Florida until 2023, at the earliest.
The DC Circuit of the US Court of Appeals on July 11 outlined the timetable for the Seminole Tribe’s legal appeal to the suspension of mobile sports betting in the Sunshine State, with a decision not expected until sometime next year.
According to the court’s briefing schedule, the Seminoles’ opening briefs are scheduled for August 17, after which West Flagler Associates will have nearly two months to formulate their response, which is set for October 6.
The appellant’s reply brief will be heard on November 14, with oral arguments likely to follow a few months after that, although they’ve yet to be scheduled.
That would push the timeline for a formal decision into at least the early part of 2023.
West Flagler represents Magic City Casino, which sued the federal government in late 2022 after the US Department of the Interior allowed the Seminoles to roll out statewide online sports betting following an amendment to the Florida tribal gaming compact.
Online sports betting officially launched in Florida on November 1, 2021 via the Hard Rock Sportsbook, but the app was forced to cease operations on December 4 after the US Court of Appeals rejected the Seminoles’ request for a stay.
At issue was the language used in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) that requires tribal gaming to take place on “Indian lands”. While all of the computer servers processing bets were technically located on Seminole land, wagers were being placed from all over the state.
This led Judge Dabney Friedrich to invalidate the entire gaming compact, setting up the current battle in the courts for the future of online sports betting in Florida.