No End in Sight for Florida Sports Betting Lawsuit

Are you ready for the litigation over the future of Florida sports betting to finally end? Hopefully not. Because it doesn’t seem to have an end in sight.

This saga is now entering its third year of activity. The initial Florida sports betting lawsuit that forced the Seminole tribe to shudder operations was filed all the way back in November 2021. It is now 15 months later, and almost nothing has been resolved.

Indeed, sports betting in Florida is back up and running. But its long-term viability is far from secure. The original complaint filed by West Flagler Associates in 2021 remains active and is still awaiting a final verdict in some form. It just isn’t quite clear when that concrete conclusion will be reached.

Between rulings at various legislation levels, appeals, extensions and delays, this entire process has run on and on. And on.

And now, on the heels of yet another extension request, it does not seem like the future of Florida sports betting will be settled anytime in the near future.

The Department of the Interior has Filed for an Extension with the Supreme Court of the United States

In their latest attempt to rework the Florida sports betting landscape, West Flagler Associates most recently elevated their lawsuit to the federal courts. While it remains unclear whether the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will hear their case, this is essentially the plaintiff’s only option after the Florida Supreme Court moved to uphold the gaming compact agreed upon between the Seminole tribe and The Sunshine State.

As part of these proceedings, the defendants in the lawsuit, the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), are required to file their own briefing with SCOTUS. Their deadline to do so is Wednesday, March 13, 2024. However, as Jill R. Dorson reported for Gambling News, the DOI has requested an extension:

“Eight days before it is mandated to file a brief in a federal sports betting lawsuit that could, in part, determine the future of online sports betting in Florida, the U.S. Dept. of the Interior Tuesday filed for an extension. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar requested the extension due to the ‘heavy press of earlier assigned cases to the attorneys handling this matter’ in a one-page memo the U.S. Supreme Court. The current deadline for the DOI to respond to the latest brief from the West Flagler and Assoc., the parimutuel that filed the lawsuit, is March 13. Prelogar asked that her office have until April 12 to respond.”

Entering Wednesday, March 6, SCOTUS had yet to respond to the DOI’s extension request. But it stands to reason that it will be granted.

Why the DOI Will Probably be Granted an Extension in the Florida Sports Betting Case

Generally speaking, the courts have offered extensions to deadlines whenever they’re requested in this case. They are willing, it seems, to tack on additional time to the proceedings.

It’s doubtful this trend changes now.

It would be one thing if sports betting operations in Florida didn’t relaunch and the case was actively holding up potential business. But the Seminole tribe was able to roll out their services at the end of 2023. Though that’s not necessarily an invitation to drag out the case, it does diminish the urgency with which SCOTUS must approach.

Plus, it doesn’t sound like the DOI is asking for too much extra time. An April 12 deadline amounts to a little more than a month’s extra time. And given that the Supreme Court never intended to rule on Florida sports betting before the middle of 2024 anyway, granting an extension may not alter what’s already an uncertain timeline.

What’s At Stake in the Florida Sports Betting Case?

The relaunch of Florida sports betting has obfuscated some of the purpose behind this case. After all, what’s really at stake when the Seminole tribe is already back to accepting wagers?

If SCOTUS invalidates the gaming compact between the Seminoles and The Sunshine State, it would entirely upend Florida sports betting services. The state could go from having legal sports wagering one day to completely shuddering it the next. And no, that’s not an exaggeration.

Of course, SCOTUS could also straddle a line somewhere in the middle. West Flagler Associates’ main complaint has to do with Florida online sports betting. Currently, the Seminoles have a Florida sports betting app that will process wagers so long as customers are located anywhere in the state. However, their gaming compact only legalizes sports betting on tribal properties. West Flagler Associates argues that if the Seminoles are allowed to do this, then other casinos and online sportsbooks in the United States should be permitted to offer the same services.

The Seminoles, though, maintain that their Florida online sports betting app is an extension of tribal property. That, in turn, would mean they’re not violating the gaming compact or the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Will SCOTUS sign with the Seminoles, thereby changing nothing about the status of Florida sports betting? Could they invalidate the gaming compact and close down gambling operations in full? Might they simply rule that the Seminoles can offer on-site sports betting but not off-site online sports betting? The answer is the same as it’s been since 2021: We’ll just have to wait and see. And odds are, we’ll be waiting a while.

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