The latest twist in the long-running courtroom drama involving legal sports betting in the Sunshine State sets up the possibility of a Supreme Court showdown, in Florida or otherwise.
In a brief order released on Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a bid by two Florida gaming companies to pause an earlier decision while awaiting the potential for a U.S. Supreme Court review.
“Upon consideration of appellees’ motion to stay issuance of the mandate pending the Supreme Court’s disposition of a petition for writ of certiorari or, in the alternative, to stay issuance of the mandate for a reasonable time to permit appellees to seek a stay from the Supreme Court, and the opposition thereto, it is ordered that the motion be denied,” the D.C. judges wrote.
Compact collision
West Flagler Associates Ltd. and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. were seeking to pause a decision that essentially reinstates a gaming compact between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe.
Among other things, the agreement grants the Seminole control over Florida sports betting, which the tribe and its Hard Rock Bet sportsbook enjoyed only briefly in 2021 before a federal judge threw out the compact and the operator shut down in the state. It was the decision in June of this year that reinstated the agreement, and which the two companies want reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The rejection of the stay request could theoretically set the stage for a return of legal sports betting to Florida in the form of Hard Rock Bet, and soon. However, the Seminole still have the possibility of a U.S. Supreme Court review hanging over their heads. Moreover, this week, West Flagler and company launched a constitutional challenge via the Supreme Court of Florida that provides further legal uncertainty.
For the moment, then, it looks like nothing has changed for Floridians. There’s still no legal sports betting in the Sunshine State, but even if there were, it would be Hard Rock-branded or something in partnership with the Seminole. Thursday’s rejection of a stay pending Supreme Court review doesn’t alter that arrangement.
“It’s another positive development,” a spokesperson for the Seminole told Covers on Thursday in an email, “but it will have no immediate effect on the Seminole Tribe’s plans.”
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