The Seminole Tribe of Florida and West Flagler Associates, who have been embroiled for years in a legal battle over the gaming compact that allows legal sports betting across Florida, ended their standoff Monday. The sides agreed to a deal in which West Flagler will end all legal claims against the compact in state and federal court, and the Tribe will agree to offer sports betting on the jai alai run by West Flagler on its Hard Rock Bet app. 

A Supreme Court decision in June cleared the way for Seminole Gaming and the state to operate their current compact until 2051. 

The ruling ended nearly a three-year journey through both the state and federal court system that began with lawsuits filed back in late 2021. A federal judge halted the compact in November of 2021. But it was reinstated last year after a federal appeals court overturned that decision. 

Earlier this year, the Florida State Supreme Court threw out an attempt to hear the case in Tallahassee on procedural grounds. 

The 2021 Gaming Compact pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis opened the door for legal sports betting in Florida, along with craps and roulette at the Hard Rock's Florida casinos. It originally included a provision for online casino betting. However, that was stripped in the negotiation process before the Florida legislature passed the compact three years ago in a special session. The compact will pay the state $500 million per year, including roughly $48 million for sports betting.

RELATED: Q + A With Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen

'Truly A Win-Win' Says Hard Rock CEO

The West Flagler Parties, which also include Bonita-Fort Myers Corporation, Southwest Florida Enterprises, Inc., and Isadore Havenick, have agreed to "refrain from engaging in any future litigation with respect to the Seminole Tribe’s gaming operations."

As part of the deal, West Flagler will no longer support any present or future legal threats to the Seminole Tribe’s gaming activities, including its sports betting monopoly in Florida. Wagering is expected to begin on Battle Court Jai Alai via the Hard Rock App in early 2025.

“This is truly a win-win agreement for the Seminole Tribe and West Flagler.  This agreement establishes a relationship of collaboration among the Seminole Tribe and West Flagler in the State of Florida.  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," Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen said in a release.

West Flagler's Havenick agreed, offering his first public remarks since West Flagler first filed suit against the compact in 2021.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Seminole Tribe in support of their gaming operations in Florida and to promote Jai Alai, which has been a critical component of Florida’s gaming industry since the 1920s.  We are proud that Jai Alai will be featured on the Hard Rock Bet app and we look forward to developing a strong partnership with the Seminole Tribe.”

West Flagler Doomed In Court From The Start: Expert 

Bob Jarvis is a professor at the Shepard Broad School of Law at Nova Southeastern University. Jarvis has long been an expert in the field of betting and law and remained consistent in his view that West Flagler's legal pursuit would prove fruitless. 

"As I said when this litigation first started, West Flagler had no chance to prevail.  Nevertheless, it fought against the Seminoles in both federal and state courtrooms in both Florida and the District of Columbia (including the U.S. Supreme Court), to no avail.  One wonders why West Flagler was so pig-headed; what advice it received from its attorneys; and whether it now regrets its decision to spend so much money on a quest that could not possibly succeed," Jarvis told bookies.com Monday. 

"With this agreement, the Seminoles can now fully move forward with their plans, whatever they might be (one assumes that the Tribe will next go back to the state and see about getting full mobile betting)."

Hard Rock Remains Open To Sports Betting Partners

The deal with West Flagler removes a major obstacle for Hard Rock in its pursuit of any possible partners on the sports betting front. 

Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen told bookies.com in late 2023 that the Tribe remains open to allowing other operators in the state. Another Hard Rock source told bookies.com in the spring that other operators have not been able to gain ground in negotiations because they were not willing to "bend the knee."

Allen reiterated his willingness to entertain partners such as DraftKings and FanDuel in an interview with CNBC earlier this month. 

Now that the compact's legal status is secured, expect the Tribe to make a push for Igaming in the Sunshine State during the 2025 legislative session, possibly in exchange for allowing other sports betting operators in the state. 

Florida law requires any expansion of gaming off Indian lands to pass the state referendum process with 60% of the vote. 

Legal Florida sports betting re-launched in November 2023 following a two-year fight in federal court over the legality of the deal that launched betting here in 2021. The Hard Rock Bet app was shuttered in late 2021 after a 34-day run following the decision of a federal judge. 

Since the Hard Rock Bet app returned, multiple wagers totaling or paying $1 million have been made by bettors inside Florida. 

Florida Sports Betting Timeline: How We Got Here?  

📅  October 27: West Flagler and the Tribe agree to halt legal hostilities in exchange for Jai Alai betting on the Hard Rock Bet app.

📅  June 17: The U.S. Supreme Court denies a petition to hear a case that could have overturned the compact, meaning it will stand until 2051. 

📅  April 22: Underdog Fantasy brings its Champions peer-to-peer DFS game to Florida. That comes 2 months after it was forced to exit the state because of its daily single-player pick' em game.

📅  March 23: The Florida Supreme Court rules that a case challenging the legality of the Florida Gaming Compact cannot be directly brought before the Court. 

📅  February 29: Three fantasy sports operators - betr, Prize Picks, and Underdog Sports - halt their daily single-player pick' em games after receiving "cease and desist" letters from the state.

📅  February 20: Economists estimate the Hard Rock Bet app and its related retail sports books could generate as much as $750 million in gross gaming revenue in its first full fiscal year of operation.

📅  February 11: Super Bowl 58 becomes the first Super Bowl upon which Floridians can legally wager.

📅  February 8, 2024: West Flagler files a writ of Writ of Certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court.

📅  December 7: Craps, roulette, and sports betting launch at all three Seminole Casinos in South Florida: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood, and Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.

📅  December 8: Craps, roulette, and sports betting Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa

📅  December 11, 2023: Craps, roulette, and sports betting launch at Seminole Casino Immokalee, near Naples, and Seminole Brighton Casino, on the northwest side of Lake Okeechobee. 

📅  November 8, 2023: West Flagler Associates seeks expedited ruling and stay from Florida Supreme Court

📅  November 7, 2023: Hard Rock App relaunches in Florida after a nearly two-year hiatus. 

📅  November 2023: Tribe announces "New Era In Florida Gaming" with craps, roulette, and in-person betting starting in December.

📅  November 2023: West Flagler Associates is expected to file a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking in to hear its case against the DOI.

📅  October 2023:  U.S. Supreme Court denies a stay on the U.S. District Court of Appeals decision to reinstate the compact. allowing it to take effect.

📅  October 2023: The appeals court orders Friedrich to vacate her decision, officially reinstating the compact.

📅  September 2023: Court of Appeals denies request for full en banc hearing. 

📅  June 2023: The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns Federal Judge Dabney L. Friedrich's reversal of the compact.

📅  February 2023: West Flagler Associates sells Magic City Casino.

📅  December 2022:  A 3-judge federal appeals court hears an appeal of Friedrich's decision that overturned the compact.

📅  January 2022: Appeal of Friedrich's decision filed by the Department of Interior in the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit.

📅  November 2021: Betting on the Tribe's app halted after 34 days. 

📅  November 2021: Friedrich overturns compact, calling parts of it "fiction." 

📅  October 2021: Sports betting begins statewide via the Tribe's Hard Rock betting app. It has since been re-branded to Hard Rock Bet.

📅  August 2021: Multiple state and federal lawsuits are filed to overturn the compact, including two by West Flagler Associates.

📅  May 2021: DeSantis and Tribe Chairman Osceola sign a 30-year, $500 million-per-year gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida after it is approved in a special session of the Florida Legislature. 

📅  November 2018: Florida voters approve Amendment 3 (now Article X, Section 30 of the Florida Constitution). It prohibits the legislature from enabling any new "casino gaming" – save for a compact with the Seminole Tribe. It requires 60% approval by the public in a statewide election to expand "casino gaming." It makes no mention of "sports betting." "No Casinos" authored the amendment. That group then worked with Disney and the Tribe, who financed the push for its pass. The Tribe spent more than $24 million of the $46 million raised to back the amendment, state election financial records show. With Disney spending more than $11 million. 

Florida Potentially Top 4 Sports Betting State In U.S. 

Florida's controversial "hub and spoke" approach to online betting allows wagering with betting servers on Indian lands, even though eligible bettors over 21 can place wagers anywhere within Florida's borders. 

Hard Rock does not release figures on its betting handle or gross gaming revenue. 

Florida is the most populous state in the nation that has legal sports betting with 21.78 million people. 

Those over 21 located in Florida can bet legally on the sports via the Hard Rock Bet. The Tribe also offers retail sports betting at its Hard Rock casinos in the state. 

State economists project the Florida Gaming Compact that enables sports betting will deliver more than $340 million in tax revenue to Florida during the fiscal year that ends June 30.  Overall, Economists at the Revenue Estimating Conference met last week and projected the state to receive $4.43 billion over the next six years.

ROCK 'N ROLL HEAVEN: A Visit To The Hard Rock Vault

Sports Betting Small Part Of Florida Gaming Compact

Of course, not all of that money is from sports betting. The revenues from the compact encompass all gaming revenues from the Tribe, including money from slot machines, table games, card games, craps, and roulette. 

The economists project the Tribe's taxable gross gaming revenue (GGR) from sports betting to be $407.8 million this fiscal year, and $750.2 million in the first full fiscal year of betting that runs from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. 

Using the industry average GGR of about 8%, the Tribe's handle in its first fiscal year of betting could reach $9.5 billion. Based on the 2023 handle numbers, that would make Florida the No. 4 state in the nation in terms of sports betting handle, behind only New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. But ahead of Nevada.

New York has 19.84 million people but features a competitive sports betting market with 9 legal sportsbooks. They include DraftKings and FanDuel, which combine to control about 60% of the U.S. legal sports betting market. 

A Look At Florida Sports Betting

With just one betting app, the online consumer market in Florida is somewhat less competitive than it is elsewhere. The Hard Rock app met with generally positive reviews in the Sunshine State. It offers similar odds to its competitors elsewhere. The app currently operates in Arizona, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Florida has two MLB teams, two MLS clubs, three NFL franchises, two NHL squads, and two NBA franchises. The state has long been a college hotbed, thanks to the University of Florida, Florida State, and the University of Miami. Both the "U" and Florida Atlantic University reached the NCAA Men's Final Four in 2023. 

The compact requires the Tribe to franchise betting retail, on-site betting rights to at three of the state's parimutuel operators. The parimutuel operators would be free to partner with any operator to run their retail books, such as DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM. In return, the operators would pay the Tribe 40% of their net winnings.

WFA sold the Miami Magic City Casino for an estimated $600 million to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians from Alabama in February.