If Sports Betting Is Going To Happen In Florida, It’s Going To Have To Come Via Seminole Hard Rock

Florida voters just made it more challenging to change its legislation regarding gaming. What does that mean to the future of sports betting from the state?
Florida and Amendment 3
On Friday evening, since most of the nation was watching to see if there was likely to become an ideological shift in Congress, many in the gambling industry were watching a different race in Florida.
This race did not entail the election of an individual; the race was for Florida Amendment 3, a ballot measure that could change the power from legislators to voters to authorize brand new casino gaming in the state.
The language of the step has been as follows:
“This change ensures that Florida voters shall have the exclusive right to choose whether to authorize casino gaming by requiring that in order for casino gaming to be approved under Florida law, it has to be approved by Florida voters pursuant to Article XI, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution. Affects articles X and XI. Defines casino gaming and explains that this amendment does not conflict with federal law concerning state/tribal compacts.”
Where did the gambling amendment come from?
Just two counties in Florida permit for”card games, casino games, casino games, and slot machines” in non-tribal owned facilities.
In 2004, before the present tribal compacts, under the opinion of then-Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida voters in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties passed a ballot initiative that enabled for slot machines in racing and jai-alai centers, which had functioned in the two years prior.
The amendment effectively means that in order for the state to expand casino gambling beyond the tribal casinos and present racing and pari-mutuel centers, voters in Florida would have to initiate the process by collecting enough signatures to get the request added into a ballot.
“In Florida, the amount of signatures necessary for an initiative is equal to 8% of the votes cast in the preceding presidential elections. Florida also includes a signature supply requirement, which requires that signatures equal to 8% of their district-wide vote at at least half (14) of the state’s 27 congressional districts have to be gathered.”
For reference, the 2016 Presidential election had 9,419,886 votes cast. Eight percent of this vote total is 753,591 signatures needed to be able to get a casino growth step on a future ballot. This is an intimidating endeavor, without considering the need for geographical distribution, which can be required.
There are, however, a couple of Florida-based groups that might be able to back a campaign of sufficient size to gather these votes at a time in the future. Two which come into mind are Disney and the Seminole Tribe. Indeed, the two Disney and the Seminoles were important backers for departure Amendment 3, supposedly putting in tens of millions of dollars to support the measure’s passage.
The opposition saw assistance from smaller gaming suppliers such as West Flagler Associates and Hialeah Park, in addition to the Miami Dolphins, that (in)famously tweeted an image that implied that the passage of Amendment 3″would effectively block any opportunity for legal sports gambling in Florida.”
If the language of Amendment 3 seems complicated, that is because it’s. The language employed in the Amendment scored a grade-level position of 24 (the equivalent of having 24 decades of formal education or sufficient time to earn a Ph.D.) based on Ballotpedia, which ranks the readability of all ballot measures. Amendment 3 was worded more complexly than many others, with the typical ballot scoring between 19-20.
It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to see that the Amendment doesn’t mention sports. So, does that mean that Florida can launch sports gambling shortly?
Not really.
What’s’casino gambling’?
In accordance with Ballotpedia, Amendment 3 defines casino gaming as card games, casino games and slot machines. There is no mention of sports gambling. Therefore, while it can appear that Amendment 3 leaves open the question of whether Florida can provide sports gambling, it fails the much larger issue, the fact that the State of Florida includes a Class III gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe.
Sports betting is Class III gaming according to the Federal Register:
Class III gaming means all forms of gaming that are not class I gaming or class II gaming, including but not limited to:
(a) Any house banking game, including but not Limited to —
(1) Card games such as baccarat, chemin de fer, blackjack (21), and pai gow (if played house banking games);
(2) Casino games such as craps, blackjack, and keno;
(b) Any slot machines as defined in 15 U.S.C. 1171(a)(1) and electronic or electromechanical facsimiles of any game of chance;
(c) Any sports betting and parimutuel wagering such as but not limited to wagering on horse racing, dog racing or jai alai; or
(d) Lotteries.
While Amendment 3 does not limit sports gambling, the present compact between the Seminole Tribe and the State of Florida may impose some restrictions.
What is from the Florida gaming compact?
The Compact, which was signed in 2010 between the Seminole Tribe and the country (it was amended in 2015 to include authorization for extra games), said:
“It is in the best interests of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida for the State to enter into a compact with the Tribe that acknowledges that the Tribe’s right to offer certain Class III gambling and provides substantial exclusivity of these activities in conjunction with a reasonable revenue sharing arrangement between the Tribe and the State that will entitle the State to important earnings participation.”
From the”Covered Games” section of this compact, there is no mention of sports gambling, but There’s a statement that might seem to cover sports gambling as within the covered games segment:
“Any fresh sport authorized by Florida law for any person for any purpose, except for banked card games approved for any other federally recognized tribe pursuant to [the] Indian Gambling Regulatory Act, provided the tribe has land in federal trust in the State at February 1, 2010.”
The tribe and the state agreed that the”Tribe is authorized to operate Covered Games on Indian Lands….” While Section IV of the compact excludes numerous games including roulette and craps (which were then allowed) there isn’t any mention of sports betting, as explicitly excluded.
The streamlined identifies seven Seminole-owned casinos which could be expanded or replaced but does not authorize new construction outside the existing lands. In addition to abiding by state-sanctioned gaming rules, the tribe, in trade for”tight but substantial exclusivity,” agreed to cover:
$12.5 million each month during the initial 24 months of the arrangement;
After that, 12 percent of internet wins all amounts up to $2 billion;
15 percent on internet wins between $2 and $3 billion;
17.5 percent on internet wins between $3 billion and $3.5 billion;
Up to 25 percent on all amounts larger than $4.5 billion each earnings sharing cycle.
These payments are due on the 15th of each month for twenty five years from the initiation of this compact.
What about online gambling?
For those hoping for online gambling, there’s a clause in the streamlined that statesif the state law has been altered to offer online gambling and tribal gaming revenue falls over five percent from the previous twelve monthsthe tribe gets to substantially reduce their payments to the state under the bonded minimums. Butthis won’t apply if the tribe provides online gambling, subject to state consent.
In case the Seminole Tribe loses exclusivity, the state of Florida will be looking for a fresh source of earnings. Part XII Section A. of the Compact states:
“If, after February 1, 2010, Florida legislation is amended by action of the Florida Legislature or an amendment to the Florida Constitution to allow (1) the operation of Class III gambling or other casino-style gaming at any location under the authority of the State that was not in operation at February 1, 2010, or (2) new forms of Class III gambling or other casino-style gaming that weren’t in operation at February 1, 2010.”
If this happen, the tribe is eligible to cease some of their obligations until such gaming is no longer operated. Similarly, if existing non-tribal facilities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties expand their Class III offerings, the Seminole Tribe can reduce some of their payments to the country as well.
So, about sports betting…
It’s unlikely that Florida will observe sports gambling being provided by any thing other than the Seminole Tribe.
The gaming compact negotiated between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida is lucrative for the nation and extremely beneficial for the tribe. For an summary of how lucrative this compact is to get the State of Florida at 2016, the Seminole Tribe paid over $300 million into the state. The chance that Florida would endanger a portion of those payments to authorize something that would generate as small extra state revenue as sports gambling is incredibly unlikely.
While Florida sports gambling fans should not hold their breath for widespread legal sports betting, the Seminole Tribe can, under the compact, get the capability to provide it at their seven casinos. Even though the Seminole Tribe has previously expressed an interest in being able to provide sports betting at its Florida Hard Rock possessions, they’ve been quiet on the issue inside the state of Florida.
Amendment 3 did not foreclose on any hope of sports gambling in Florida. However, under the present gaming compact provisions, it would seem to be a costly endeavor for state lawmakers to allow someone aside from the Seminole Tribe to provide it entirely, a decision that would surely leave facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties unhappy.

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