Seminole Tribe and Private Companies Reach Settlement in Florida

For more than a year now, the Seminole Tribe of Florida has been gaining political and legal headway in attempting to enforce its exclusivity of the sports gambling market, guaranteed by a state compact, and which has led to the launch of the Hard Rock Bet gambling brand in the state.

Seminole Tribe and Legal Challengers Settle Sports Betting Saga

Essentially, the plaintiffs have objected to the fact that the Seminole Tribe of Florida has become the de facto monopolist of sports betting in the state without due process, and with no option to see private companies enter the fray. Instead, the tribe would hold all rights to the sports gambling market and benefit from it unilaterally, the complaint filed by a pair of businesses argued.

Now, though, the two parties have concluded the legal saga, which will be resolved with a settlement as confirmed by the tribe.

The plaintiffs, namely Bonita Fort-Mayers Corp and West Flagler Associates, and the tribe have agreed to bring the legal proceedings to an end and instead focus on collaboratively launching a Jai Alai wagering product on the tribe’s Hard Rock Bet app.

Although the Seminole Tribe of Florida has so far only introduced sports gambling, the company is looking to push into iGaming, using an exclusivity compact it has signed with the government, allowing it to spearhead Internet gambling, among other things.

Jim Allen, Seminole Gaming CEO, said that the settlement has been welcomed, and it showed a willingness between all parties involved to collaborate instead of bickering in courts over the coming years.

“Rather than engaging in years of additional litigation, this agreement will allow the parties to work together to promote Jai Alai, which has played an important role in Florida’s gaming landscape for nearly 100 years.”

Plaintiffs and the Defendant to Come Together for New Gambling Product

The compact was challenged by the companies, which insisted that the compact had been wrongly approved, but the Supreme Court of Florida and the US Supreme Court have found no issue with the compact.

In the case of the latter, SCOTUS has outright refused to embroil itself in the legal saga, and although seemingly winning the case, the Seminole Tribe of Florida has not been keen to continue to take the legal proceedings any further.

Florida’s highest court sided with the Seminole Tribe back in June, arguing that the compact did not breach the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and was indeed lawful.

Presently, Hard Rock Bet does not operate an online casino in Florida but having settled the challenges to the legality of its betting platform, the company may be looking to now expand and push into the new vertical. As one of the most populous states in the United States, Hard Rock Bet has much to gain by launching an iGaming product.