{"id":189531,"date":"2021-10-20T15:47:44","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T22:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=189531"},"modified":"2021-10-20T16:16:02","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T23:16:02","slug":"seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings\/","title":{"rendered":"Seminoles Strike Back Against Ballot Threats from LVS, DraftKings"},"content":{"rendered":"

All-powerful Florida tribal gaming operator the Seminoles are plowing millions of dollars into a new political committee called \u201cStanding Up for Florida,\u201d Florida Politics<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

\"Seminole
Not only is the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood\u2019s hotel tower shaped like a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar, but it also emits laser beams. Can LVS top that? The Seminoles don\u2019t want to find out. (Image: Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tribe is hoping to sabotage efforts by out-of-state gaming companies that want to challenge its gambling monopolies via voter-led petitions.<\/p>\n

“Standing Up for Florida” has kicked off its campaign with a TV and digital media ad titled \u201cWatch Out, Florida.\u201d The ad\u2019s tagline is a stern warning to voters: \u201cDon\u2019t Sign Petitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out-of-state gambling companies are spending tens of millions to turn our state into another Las Vegas. They want to change our constitution to allow out-of-control gambling with no guarantees for us and big profits for them,\u201d the TV spot claims.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Seminoles hold a virtual monopoly on casino gaming in Florida (bar a handful of slots licensees in Broward and Miami-Dade counties) at their seven Hard Rock-branded casinos, and they want it to stay that way. They also now hold a monopoly on sports betting, thanks to a new compact agreement negotiated with Gov. Ron DeSantis.<\/p>\n

Voters in Charge?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While the tribe does not name these dangerous out-of-staters, its targets are clear. LVS Corp and its powerful lobbyists have been sniffing around Florida<\/a> for years in the hope that someone might let them build a casino resort.<\/p>\n

Now the Las Vegas-based company has teamed up with Alabama\u2019s Poarch Band of Creek Indians on a ballot initiative called \u201cFlorida Voters in Charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initiative asks voters to change the state constitution to allow pari-mutuel card rooms in North Florida to become full-fledged casinos, provided they are 130 miles away from the Seminole reservation.<\/p>\n

Theoretically, this could allow LVS or the Poarch Creek to purchase a card room that could then be transformed into a casino resort in or around the Jacksonville area.<\/p>\n

\n

Meanwhile, DraftKings and FanDuel want voters to back a more inclusive mobile sports betting market, specifically one that includes them. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This is via their committee, \u201cFlorida Education Champions,\u201d<\/a> which promises that disrupting the Seminole monopoly will bring more revenue to schools.<\/p>\n

As the Seminoles note in their campaign, they pay $500 million to the state each year. And they would have a case to renegotiate in this figure downwards if “Florida Education Champions'” vision ever became a reality.<\/p>\n

The two initiatives need 891,589 signatures from registered state voters to be placed on the ballot in 2022.<\/p>\n

Could Amendment 3 Backfire?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ironically, the tribe championed a ballot initiative of their own back in 2018. At elections that year, Florida residents passed Amendment 3, which established that all casino gaming expansion must be approved by voters in a public ballot.<\/p>\n

The campaign was bankrolled by the Seminoles with the help of Disney. And despite the tribe\u2019s current advice not to sign petitions in general, it got the necessary signatures, and ultimately the votes, to become law.<\/p>\n

The tribe believed this would help safeguard their monopoly, because it would prevent the legislature from approving laws that benefited commercial gaming interests.<\/p>\n

But it also gave a bunch of \u201cinterfering out-of-staters\u201d an outside chance of gaining the kind of ground in Florida that the legislature has resisted for years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All-powerful Florida tribal gaming operator the Seminoles are plowing millions of dollars into a new political committee called \u201cStanding Up for Florida,\u201d Florida Politics reports. The tribe is hoping to sabotage efforts by out-of-state gaming companies that want to challenge its gambling monopolies via voter-led petitions. “Standing Up for Florida” has kicked off its campaign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":189532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSeminoles Strike Back Against Ballot Threats from LVS, DraftKings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seminole tribe of Florida fighting back against ballot initiatives led by LVS, Poarch Creeks, DraftKings and FanDuel with new PAC campaign.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seminoles Strike Back Against Ballot Threats from LVS, DraftKings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seminole tribe of Florida fighting back against ballot initiatives led by LVS, Poarch Creeks, DraftKings and FanDuel with new PAC campaign.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-20T22:47:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-20T23:16:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/seminole.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings\/\",\"name\":\"Seminoles Strike Back Against Ballot Threats from LVS, DraftKings\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/seminole.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-20T22:47:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-20T23:16:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Seminole tribe of Florida fighting back against ballot initiatives led by LVS, Poarch Creeks, DraftKings and FanDuel with new PAC campaign.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/seminoles-strike-back-against-ballot-threats-from-lvs-draftkings\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/seminole.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/seminole.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Not only is the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood\u2019s hotel tower shaped like a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar, but it also emits laser beams. 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