The gaming compact that allows legal sports betting across Florida will stand after the U.S. Supreme Court Monday denied to hear a case that could have sunk the deal. 

This means the Seminole Tribe of Florida no longer faces any legal challenges from West Flagler Associates (WFA) or anyone else to its monopoly on sports betting in the state until the current deal expires in 2051. 

The ruling ends 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 this month in a special session. The compact will pay the state $500 million per year, including roughly $48 million for sports betting.

Monday's decision will be seen as a major victory for the Seminole Tribe, which bills itself as being "Undefeated" since it never signed any treaty with the United States government. And for DeSantis. 

"The Seminole Tribe of Florida applauds today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to decline consideration of the case involving the Tribe’s Gaming Compact with the State of Florida. It means members of the Seminole Tribe and all Floridians can count on a bright future made possible by the Compact," Seminole Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner said in a statement to bookies.com.

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

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

The ruling will reverberate across the country and could open the door for other states with Tribal gaming to make similar deals that allow a "hub and spoke" approach to online betting. The Seminole Tribe and State of Florida allowed sports betting by having the 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 app, run by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Tribe is also offering 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

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. 

What's Next In Florida?

WFA or someone else could bring another case in either state or federal court to overturn the compact. But those paths are limited. And expensive.  

Professor of Law at the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center Bob Jarvis has long predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court would deny hearing the case. 

"WFA now is done on the federal side.  On the state side, it can still file a lawsuit in the Leon County Circuit Court in Tallahassee and argue that the compact violates Florida’s constitution (it doesn’t, of course). That is what the Florida Supreme Court said was the proper procedure when it dismissed WFA’s quo warranto action, which WFA filed directly in the Florida Supreme Court," Jarvis told bookies.com. 

Jarvis would not be surprised if WFC tries again. 

"It’s a further waste of time and money.  Even if the Leon County Circuit Court found for WFA, and even if the First District Court of Appeal (also in Tallahassee) affirmed, the Florida Supreme Court would reverse because Governor DeSantis clearly wants the compact and, these days, the Florida Supreme Court is in lockstep with DeSantis," 

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

Now that the compact's legal status is secured, expect the Tribe to make a push for igaming in the Sunshine State during next year's 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. 

On October 25, 2023,  the U.S. Supreme Court allowed an appeals-court ruling to take effect that reinstates the 2021 gaming compact allowing the Seminole Tribe of Florida to offer craps and roulette in its casinos, in-person sports betting, and online betting through the app.

That decision denied a stay sought by WFA and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp., who sued in both federal and state court. 

The "hub-and-spoke" online betting portion of the compact was the basis for WFA's dual lawsuits. 

The Tribe filed an amicus brief with the Florida Supreme Court on December 8. It reaffirmed the argument made by the DeSantis administration a week earlier that Amendment 3 does not prohibit the current "hub and spoke" mobile sports betting set-up in Florida. 

Florida Sports Betting Timeline: How We Got Here?  

📅  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 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. 

What Florida Sports Betting Looks Like?

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. 

MASS APPEAL: Massachusetts Sports Betting Update

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.