- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Gaming
A new lawsuit filed in Florida’s 2nd Judicial Circuit Court seeks to overturn the state’s authorization of online sports betting under the exclusive control of the Seminole Tribe, arguing it violates the Florida Constitution.
Protect the Constitution LLC, the plaintiff, represents a collection of members with “interests in advancing lawful casino gambling,” according to the lawsuit. Florida law requires a constitutional amendment via citizen referendum to expand gambling beyond Seminole reservation lands. The complaint asserts that the state bypassed this requirement when it ratified a 2021 gaming compact granting the Seminole Tribe exclusive rights to operate online sports betting statewide.
The legal battle follows years of disputes over Florida’s sports betting framework. The compact allowed bets to be placed anywhere in Florida as long as the servers processing them were located on tribal land. Pari-mutuel operators West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. challenged the compact, arguing that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) does not permit off-reservation betting.
Federal courts upheld the compact, ruling that Florida law—not the compact itself—authorized online sports betting outside tribal lands. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, solidifying the lower court’s decision, per prior Tribal Business News reporting.
Now, Protect the Constitution LLC is taking the fight to state court, seeking a declaratory judgment that Florida’s sports betting law is unconstitutional. The lawsuit argues that the legislature’s authorization of online sports betting without a voter referendum violates Article X, Section 30 of the Florida Constitution.
If successful, the lawsuit could halt online sports betting in Florida, forcing lawmakers to seek voter approval before reinstating the practice. The case is expected to reignite debates over gambling expansion and tribal gaming rights in the state.
