The next few days will be pivotal ones for those interested in the fate of sports betting in Florida and the amended gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and state leaders. US District Judge Dabney Friedrich, seen testifying at a 2017 Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing, was frustrated at the way the federal government responded to a lawsuit filed by parimutuel operators seeking to block parts of the amended gaming compact the Seminole Tribe of Florida and state officials approved earlier this year. The parimutuel operators want to block parts of the compact that allow sports betting to take place off tribal land. (Image: US Sen. Chris Coons) On Friday, a federal judge in the District of Columbia gave attorneys representing the Department of the Interior and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland until Tuesday to submit a brief on why the agreement between the Seminoles and the state that allows sports betting off tribal lands, including through online accounts, adheres to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
Throughout the nearly two-hour hearing, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich openly expressed her frustrations at the responses – or the lack thereof – she received from Rebecca Ross, a US Department of Justice attorney representing the government.
Those frustrations started with the government’s failure to adhere to the briefing schedule the judge laid out nearly two months ago. Toward the end of the hearing the judge asked repeatedly if the government interpreted online betting as taking place on tribal land. When Ross started talking about the “unique nature,” Friedrich cut her off and said it’s a simple yes or no question that she couldn’t answer. It’s hard not to sit here and think that the government’s sole litigation strategy here is simply to delay,” Friedrich said. Friedrich said that she will try to issue her ruling by Nov. 15, which is when the owners of the Magic City Casino and Bonita Springs Poker Room said they were told Seminole Gaming would launch online sports betting. However, she would not guarantee that. Seminoles Kicked Off Mobile Sports Betting Last Week
Online sports betting started last […]
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