Lawyers for two Florida pari-mutuel operators urged a federal appellate court Tuesday not to reverse a lower court’s decision nullifying a mobile sports betting compact. That’s because they claim the injuries tribal leaders claim were “self-inflicted.” The issue surrounds a challenge to the amended gaming compact granting the Seminole Tribe of Florida exclusive sports betting statewide. An aerial view of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., which is owned by The Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Tribe is seeking a stay of a federal judge’s order that nullified approval of a gaming compact that gave it exclusive statewide access to mobile sports betting. (Image: Seminole Hard Rock) In a 29-page rebuttal to the tribe’s emergency motion last week , lawyers for Boies Schiller Flexner told the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that their clients – the Magic City Casino and the Bonita Springs Poker Room – are the ones being harmed. That’s because the tribe’s Nov. 1 launch of the Hard Rock Sportsbook app across the state has already impacted the handle at Magic City, which is located in Miami.
And since the Seminole Tribe is protected by sovereign immunity, Magic City’s owners are “permanently irretrievable,” wrote Hamish Hume, the lead attorney representing the pari-mutuel operators.
Despite US District Judge Dabney Friedrich throwing out the amended compact between the tribe and Florida officials, tribal leaders have continued to operate the app. They have appealed Friedrich’s order and sought a stay of the order that would allow them to keep the operation going while the courts determine if the compact is legal under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Friedrich threw out the entire compact because she said the statewide sports betting provisions take place off tribal lands, and that goes against the 33-year-old federal law.
Magic City and Bonita Springs filed the lawsuit in August in the US District Court for the District of Columbia against Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the US Department of the Interior. The plaintiffs claimed that the federal government should not have approved the compact, because IGRA only allows gaming on […]
Click here to view original web page at www.casino.org
