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Lawmakers in the state of Florida are pushing for gambling expansion while the powerful Seminoles look to boost their dominance with legalized sports betting in the state.
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The Pros of Sports Betting in Florida
- Gov. Ron DeSantis says legalized sports betting translates into more than $2 billion to the state coffers.
- State officials say 2,200 new jobs would be created in Florida.
The Cons of Sports Betting in Florida
- The Seminoles would truly operate a gambling monopoly in the state.
- “Mobile betting is approved by an Indian gaming compact, which only permits gaming on Indian land, so a federal court will likely invalidate a part of this agreement that allows for mobile sports betting,” gaming attorney Daniel Wallach tells WINK News. “Following a court ruling, you probably won’t have the ability for mobile sports betting.”
- Legalized sports betting is not anticipated to produce a significant revenue stream for the Seminoles.
- Privacy advocates argue that the Seminoles will be able to engage in data harvesting via the mobile app and thus target younger users for its other products.
Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming and chairman of Hard Rock International, insisted that companies like Draftkings and FanDuel would have access to the lucrative market. Florida is the third most populous US state with 21.5 million people, a number that balloons during the winter months.
“I want to make sure that there isn’t a perception that companies like FanDuel and DraftKings and Barstool, and obviously the parimutuels themselves, will not have an opportunity. As a matter of fact, for the record, we actually have proposals from some of those companies, specifically DraftKings and FanDuel, I’ve met personally with Barstool and many of the other companies.
“The tribe is 100% interested and willing to create a business relationship with those companies whether it be through the parimutuels or directly.”
Meanwhile, the opposition to any form of gambling expansion is relatively strong.
Wallach's assessment that mobile wagering would be shot down quickly came to fruition on Monday when Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls announced that he and fellow Republican leadership had gotten future online and mobile casino gambling nixed from a proposed deal between the state and Seminole Tribe.
Should sports betting be legalized, none of the Seminoles seven casinos will offer it until at least October 15.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
