{"id":301613,"date":"2023-12-04T13:27:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T19:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=301613"},"modified":"2023-12-09T13:46:44","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T19:46:44","slug":"desantis-defends-sports-betting-compact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/desantis-defends-sports-betting-compact\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Ron DeSantis Defends Florida Sports Betting Compact\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is asking the state\u2019s high court to reject a challenge to the Seminole Tribe\u2019s monopoly on sports betting in the state.<\/p>\n

\"Florida
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking the Florida Supreme Court to uphold a gaming compact with the Seminoles that allowed for online sports betting. (Image: NPR<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A pair of pari-mutuel companies are asking the Florida Supreme Court to invalidate the 2021 gaming compact between the tribe and the state that opened the door to let the tribe operate an online sportsbook. Lawyers for DeSantis and the legislature say those companies waited too long to bring their challenge and that their claims are without merit.<\/p>\n

\n

The case is part of a two-year legal fight led by West Flagler Associates to prevent the tribe from accepting bets over the internet placed from anywhere in the state. West Flagler earlier this year failed to convince a federal appeals court to invalidate the tribal gaming compact, although an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is still expected<\/a>. In the meantime, the tribe\u2019s Hard Rock Bets platform began accepting wagers<\/a> from select customers last month, and the state court has refused<\/a> to expedite its proceedings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Not until losing<\/a> its federal appeal did West Flagler take its case to the Florida Supreme Court<\/a>, asking for a \u201cwrit of quo warranto\u201d to effectively undo the actions of the governor and legislature related to the gaming compact.<\/p>\n

\u201cPetitioners provide no basis for this Court to upend work approved by three sovereigns in their third-choice legal venue,\u201d the state\u2019s lawyers wrote in a response filed Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Last Resort\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n

By waiting so long to file, the company has undermined its claim to need the court to step in, the governor\u2019s attorneys argued.<\/p>\n

Original jurisdiction over quo warranto actions is reserved for truly extraordinary circumstances, where the review of Florida\u2019s highest court is necessary immediately, rather than as a last resort,\u201d the state argues in its response. \u201cThat process prevents prejudice to the opposing party that may arise from the uncertainty surrounding extended litigation \u2014 here, depriving the State and the Tribe of a mutually beneficial gaming compact.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The state also argues that West Flagler doesn’t have the authority to seek a writ of quo warranto, which traditionally can only be sought by the state attorney general.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding those procedural issues, the state also argues that West Flagler\u2019s challenge should fail on the merits. That’s because the tribe\u2019s sports betting operation fits within the boundaries of state and federal law. Essentially, because the servers accepting wagers through the Seminole\u2019s Hard Rock Bets platform are located on tribal land, the wagering itself is \u201cdeemed\u201d to have taken place there.<\/p>\n

Friendly Terrain<\/b><\/h2>\n

The governor faces relatively friendly terrain at the Florida Supreme Court. Five of the seven current justices were appointed by DeSantis, who is pursuing what Politico<\/em> has described as a \u201ccomplete makeover<\/a>\u201d of the court.<\/p>\n

While much of the attention on DeSantis\u2019 legal strategy has focused on culture war issues, such as abortion or education as opposed to the future of sports betting, the governor has a strong track record so far. The court\u2019s \u201cright-of-center majority \u2026 has repeatedly enabled DeSantis\u2019s political agenda,\u201d the Washington Post<\/em> reported<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\n

In their response to the West Flagler case, the state\u2019s lawyers cite a precedent set by the court earlier this year in the case of State Attorney Andrew Warren, who DeSantis suspended last year. The court rejected<\/a> Warren\u2019s lawsuit in June, concluding that he waited too long to seek relief by not filing until six months after his suspension.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201c[T]he fact that Petitioners bet the farm on successfully defending their dubious district-court victory on appeal, only to lose their federal suit much more slowly than Andrew Warren lost his \u2026 is no excuse for their more-than-two-year delay in bringing their state-law claims to this Court,\u201d DeSantis\u2019 lawyers write, \u201cwhich they knew full well would be live if they lost the appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is asking the state\u2019s high court to reject a challenge to the Seminole Tribe\u2019s monopoly on sports betting in the state. A pair of pari-mutuel companies are asking the Florida Supreme Court to invalidate the 2021 gaming compact between the tribe and the state that opened the door to let […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":295788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83108,60,13,86436,1074,18456],"tags":[88718,89000,88689,81928,82342,83129],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGov. Ron DeSantis Defends Florida Sports Betting Compact\u00a0 - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is asking the state\u2019s high court to reject a challenge to the Seminole Tribe\u2019s monopoly on sports betting in the state. A Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking the state\u2019s high court to reject a challenge to the Seminole Tribe\u2019s monopoly on sports betting in the state.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/desantis-defends-sports-betting-compact\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gov. Ron DeSantis Defends Florida Sports Betting Compact\u00a0 - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is asking the state\u2019s high court to reject a challenge to the Seminole Tribe\u2019s monopoly on sports betting in the state. A Florida Gov. 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