A federal judge ruled Monday that the new 30-year gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the state government violated federal law. According to a report from Newsweek, Federal District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled in favor of the two pari-mutuel facilities that filed a federal lawsuit against the state, arguing that the new sports betting model violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, among other legal standards.
The Havenick family, which owns Bonita Springs Poker Room and Magic City Casino, filed suit over the sports betting aspect of the compact at both the state and federal levels. The arguments were basically identical, but while the case was tossed out at the state level , Friedrich agreed with them in federal court.
The suit claims that the ‘hub-and-spoke’ model violated IGRA and flew in the face of a 2018 ballot initiative supported by the Seminoles which forced any gambling expansion in the Sunshine State to be voted on by the citizenry. Friedrich agreed on both counts.
The IGRA states that gamblers must be on tribal land when placing a bet. With the model laid out in the compact, the Seminole Tribe would act as the sports betting hub for the state and would operate the only online sportsbook in the state. The legal team for the Havenick-owned pari-mutuels argued that since online bettors don’t have to be on tribal land, the structure violated federal standards.
Lawyers for the Tribe said that since the bets were being processed through servers on tribal property, it was in accordance with the IGRA. Friedrich didn’t believe that to be the case.
“When a federal statute authorizes an activity only at specific locations, parties may not evade that limitation by ‘deeming’ their activity to occur where it, as a factual matter, does not,” read a part of Friedrich’s ruling.
“Last night’s ruling was a victory for family-owned businesses like ours who pay their fair share in taxes and believe the free market should guide the business operations of gaming venues,” said a Magic City Casino spokesperson in a statement. “We look forward to working with the Governor, Legislature, and […]
Click here to view original web page at www.cardplayer.com
