WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for on-site sports betting, roulette and craps games, but online sports betting, including on an app, still has not been resolved.
On-site betting and other new games are scheduled to open on Dec. 7 at all three Seminole Casinos in Broward County.
State
Sports betting, craps, roulette set to begin in Florida next month
On Oct. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court turned away attempts to block the Gaming Compact from 2021 between the state and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which CEO Marcellus Osceola Jr. calls "a historic legal victory."
“I’m sure the Seminoles are very confident they will ultimately win mobile sports betting,” Dr. Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, told WPTV reporter Matt Sczesny.
The idea of on-site only sports betting at casinos is being met with disappointment by many who have been waiting for the opportunity to place bets over phones and tablets.
“Now we have to drive to the casino and place bets,” said Peter Anadio of thesportsbetexprt.com, a betting consulting firm based in South Florida.
“How many people are actually going to do that?”
Securing mobile sports may only be a start and not the goal, according to Jarvis.
“What the Seminoles and other tribes and every brick-and-mortar casino really want is to have mobile betting, not mobile sports betting, they want you to be able to sit on your couch and play baccarat, blackjack, poker craps roulette,” he said.
In 2021, the Seminole Tribe launched online sports betting app for 34 days before shutting down due to the legal challenges filed with the state Supreme Court.
Also in 2021, an agreement between Florida and the Seminole Tribe said the state was guaranteed $2.5 billion in the first five years and an estimated $6 billion through 2030.
However, a federal appellate court sided earlier this year with the Tribe and reversed a lower court decision that struck down the gaming compact.
Originally legal sports betting was only in Nevada, which was adopted in 1931 and in the first sports book was at a casino in 1975.
Legal sports betting started expanding across the United States after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection in 2018, allowing each of the 50 states to determine its own sports betting laws.
Delaware was the first to allow single-game bets after the decision. Neighboring New Jersey followed.
Around 30 states have legalized sports betting. California and Texas are not on the list.
Sports betting apps available include FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, bet365 and Fanatics Sportsbook. But people in Florida can't use those apps.
Some cruise ships also accept sports bets when in international waters.
The global sports betting market was valued at $83.65 billion in 2022, according to a report by Research and Markets.
Sports
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In 2021, PBKC, formerly known as the Palm Beach Kennel Club, four other pari-mutuel facilities partnered with the Seminole Tribe of Florida in efforts to introduce sports betting across the state. The others are Hialeah Park Casino, Ocala Gainesville Poker and Ocala Breeder’s Sale Company; and two Tampa locations at Tampa Bay Downs and TGT Poker & Racebook.
But no announcement has been made when and if this partnership will move forward.
