Seminole Tribe of Florida Files Replies in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia

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Last updated: November 14, 2022

The legal issues involving a controversial Florida gaming agreement that would have allowed sports betting in the Sunshine State are once more on the agenda. The U.S. Department of the Interior and the Seminole Tribe of Florida recently filed replies in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. They contend that when US District Judge Dabney Friedrich invalidated the tribe’s gaming agreement with the state of Florida about a year ago, she erred.

That decision on behalf of the Bonita Springs Poker Room and the Magic City Casino ultimately forced the Seminole Tribe into shutting down its Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app. Dabney Friedrich agreed with the plaintiffs’ claim that the gaming agreement, which gave the tribe permission to operate as Florida’s exclusive statewide provider of mobile sports betting, violated IGRA (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) since it allowed gaming off tribal lands.

IGRA was enacted in 1988. It provides a statutory basis for the regulation of tribal games, and it requires the Interior Department to review gaming agreements and choose whether they are approved or rejected. According to the Interior Department, the agreement is in line with IGRA. Deb Halland, the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, is not required by law to ensure that the state and tribe are abiding by state law before signing off on the agreement.

What Led to the Case?

A revised gaming compact was agreed upon by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe in April 2021. The sports betting provision, which included exclusive statewide online rights, was the most noteworthy item in the 30-year agreement. However, a district court overturned the decision for legal sports betting in December 2021

Additionally, it permitted the Seminole Tribe to offer dice-based table games and roulette at its casinos. The tribe consented to make guaranteed payments to the state. This includes $2.5 billion for the first five years of the agreement.

The compact underwent a 45-day review at the Interior Department after being approved by the state. The compact is deemed approved to the extent that it complied with IGRA because interior officials couldn’t finish their review in the 45-day time frame.

The Arguments of Bonita Springs and Magic City

Bonita Springs and Magic City opposed the sports betting provisions in the compact. The sister companies operating pari-mutuel facilities in Florida claimed that online sports betting would occur off of tribal land, in violation of the IGRA. They also asserted that they would suffer economically if they didn’t take part in the hub-and-spoke network since they can’t partake in sports betting in another way.

In their brief to the appeals panel last month, the plaintiffs contended that the IGRA doesn’t cover online gaming and that the department should have mentioned that “its interpretation of IGRA should receive deference.” In a recent brief, the Seminole Tribe said that the plaintiffs’ primary goal in suing the federal government was to prevent the tribe from using the rights it received in the modified compact.