Supreme Court grants DOI extension in Florida sports betting case
Window to file a response for the Department of the Interior now extended to May 13 as legal case rumbles on
The US Supreme Court has granted an extension to the Department of the Interior to file a response to West Flagler in the ongoing legal tussle relating to Floridian sports betting.
The Supreme Court approved the time extension through to May 13 after previously sanctioning an initial extension to April 12.
This second extension will allow the Department of the Interior further time to file a response to West Flagler’s petition for writ of certiorari.
That writ of certiorari asked the Supreme Court to review an appeals judgment which paved the way for the Seminole Tribe to return to Florida.
In a letter to the Supreme Court, US solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar called for the extension on the grounds the “attorneys with principal responsibility for the final preparation of the government’s response have been heavily engaged with the press of other matters before the Court.”
West Flagler has continued to challenge the legality of the Seminole Tribe’s effective monopoly on sports betting in the Sunshine State.
Via the Hard Rock Digital brand, the Seminoles relaunched retail and online sports betting in December following a two-year hiatus owing to the legal challenges.
This year, the Florida Supreme Court has rejected a challenge that called the monopoly into question while the Department of the Interior also declared Florida-style tribal agreements permissible.