West Flagler petitions Supreme Court to prevent Seminole relaunch
Parimutuel operator has requested an overturning of the motion to stay, which could see the prevention of Florida’s sports betting relaunch
West Flagler Associates has filed an application with the Supreme Court to recall and stay the DC Circuit’s mandate in its Florida sports betting appeal against the Seminole Tribe.
The operator is looking to overturn the DC Circuit’s motion to stay and has committed to presenting a writ of certiorari by November 20.
West Flagler has argued three “questions of exceptional importance” were raised by the DC Circuit’s decision. It has therefore argued that the Supreme Court should grant a stay in the DC Circuit decision pending review.
The first question is whether the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) authorizes the federal government to approve a compact that allows a tribe to conduct gaming activities on Indian land.
The second was whether the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is broken when a tribe uses the internet to offer its services outside of its land.
Lastly, West Flagler has questioned whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution is violated when the federal government approves an IGRA compact that will give an Indian tribe a monopoly on online sports betting.
The petition is the latest development in this ongoing case, which has seen the operator attempt to use the courts to stop the Seminole Tribe from launching sports betting statewide through its compact with the Florida state government.
The Seminole Tribe, who own Hard Rock Digital, has a Class III Compact with the Florida State government, which allows the tribe to have exclusive rights to sports betting in the Sunshine State. Under the terms of that compact, the Seminole Tribe has to pay $500m to the state every year.
In relation to the IGRA question it raised, the operator cited the 2014 Michigan versus Bay Mills Indian Community case. It referenced the court’s opinion that “everything – literally everything – in IGRA affords tools… to regulated gaming on Indian lands, and nowhere else”.
In the original ruling in June, the DC Circuit rejected this argument and that, in its opinion, it “deems” mobile bets to be placed on Indian land, and therefore, the compact did not violate the precedent set in that case.
Elsewhere, JMP Securities analyst Jordan Bender has forecast that if Florida proceeded with a Hard Rock Digital monopoly, it could result in up to $700m in lost revenue as the market fully matures.
JMP Securities predicted that Florida will generate between $1.3bn and $1.5bn in revenue at maturity, compared to $2bn if the market was opened up to multiple licensees.