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The compact the Seminole Tribe and the DeSantis Administration reached last spring gave the tribe exclusive rights to operate sports betting statewide, including off tribal lands. Besides mobile sports betting, the compact allowed the Seminole Tribe to also establish a hub-and-spoke network with pari-mutuel operators across the state. The agreement would let cardrooms, racetracks, and other pari-mutuel gaming facilities host kiosks for the Seminole Tribe and receive a share of the proceeds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Interior Department had 45 days to review the compact and determine if it complied with federal law. However. federal officials failed to render a decision within that time frame. That meant the compact was considered approved to the extent it complied with IGRA, which states that wagers must be made on tribal lands.<\/p>\n
The pari-mutuel operators claimed federal officials should not have allowed the compact because of the off-tribal land provisions. The Interior Department sought to dismiss the case and said Florida and Seminole Tribe officials had the right to determine where gaming occurs<\/p>\n
In her ruling, Friedrich determined that the compact violated the \u201cIndian lands\u201d provision of the federal gaming law. While she could have just struck down that provision and kept other portions of the compact, she chose to void the entire arrangement.<\/p>\n
Intervention Denial<\/h2>\n
The Seminole Tribe, which was not an official party in the lawsuit, filed its appeal within two days of Friedrich\u2019s ruling. Despite the pari-mutuel operators filing the lawsuit, the tribe launched its Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app at the beginning of November.<\/p>\n
The app would be suspended a month later after tribal officials were denied a stay on Friedrich\u2019s ruling at the district and circuit court levels.<\/p>\n
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Tribal leaders sought to intervene in the case at the federal district court level to dismiss the case. In the appeal to federal circuit court judges, they want the panel to determine if Friedrich erred when she failed to give them the opportunity to make their case in her court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
According to the Seminole Tribe\u2019s statement of issues, the tribe says it deserves to weigh in on the case because \u201cthe Tribe is a party, no other party to the compact was named, a judgment would substantially affect the Tribe\u2019s vital interests, and the only named defendant could not be expected to adequately represent the tribe\u2019s interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tribe is not the only entity with a financial stake in the matter. Per the compact, the state of Florida stands to receive $2.5 billion over the first five years of the agreement.<\/strong><\/p>\nWith the new compact currently nullified, the Seminole Tribe continues to operate casino gaming on its lands in Florida through a previously approved compact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US Department of the Interior and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland filed an appeal Tuesday in federal court. They are seeking to overturn a decision made two months ago that voided a gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and state officials. The filing comes six days after the department and Haaland gave notice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":199243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Interior Dept, Haaland File Appeal in Florida Gaming Compact Lawsuit<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n