The two Florida parimutuels challenging the legality of sports betting in the state’s Supreme Court have filed their final brief.
As such, the seven-judge panel state court will rule on the matter in the coming weeks.
The case mainly concerns whether the state constitution’s Amendment 3, which bars any expansion of “casino gambling” without a referendum, applies in this case.
The precise definition of this has been an important question in the proceedings, with West Flagler highlighting prior arguments that showed sports betting to be generally considered a form of casino gambling.
West Flagler is seeking a writ of quo warranto, literally “by what authority”. This will aim to challenge whether governor Ron DeSantis and the legislature had the authority to agree the compact in the first place.
On X, formerly Twitter, gaming attorney Daniel Wallach commended the “compelling” brief but warned the odds were stacked against the parimutuals.
“If it were in any other court besides the one where gov. DeSantis appointed 5 out of 7 justices and has never had a writ of quo warranto issued against him (14 cases), I’d feel more optimistic about West Flagler’s chances in state court,” he wrote.
He also argued that the separate case in the US Supreme Court docket might represent a better shot at challenging the compact.
“[The Florida case] is the undercard to the main event, which is SCOTUS. In my view, the DC Circuit’s ruling checks at least 3 of the boxes of a ‘cert-worthy’ case: (1) circuit split on IGRA scope; (2) conflict with SCOTUS precedent; and (3) important fed question w/ far-reaching consequences,” he added.
Rocky road to regulation
Online sports bets betting was legalised in Florida through a 2021 gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe and the state.
This was done through the “hub-and-spoke” model, in which off-reservation bets were wired through tribal servers to remain in compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
This has proved controversial with the compact facing challenges in both state and federal courts.
After years of delays, online sports betting launched state wide in November for all bettors, despite attempts by West Flagler to get the courts to order a stay.
The US Supreme Court agreed to an extension in the case to wait for the Florida court to rule on the separate case.
