New Lawsuit Targets Florida Sports Betting Compact

by | Apr 25, 2025 9:41 am | Legal | 0 comments

New Lawsuit Targets Florida Sports Betting Compact

Florida Sports Betting

  • A new lawsuit challenges Florida’s 2021 gambling compact, claiming it bypasses voter approval required under the state constitution.
  • Protect the Constitution LLC argues that statewide mobile sports betting violates Amendment 3, passed by voters in 2018.
  • The legal dispute could once again put the Seminole Tribe’s exclusive rights to operate Hard Rock Bet in jeopardy.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida’s online sportsbook is facing yet another legal hurdle. On Wednesday, Protect the Constitution LLC filed a Leon County circuit court lawsuit, stating that the state’s 2021 gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe is in direction violation of the 2018 constitutional amendment which required voter approval for expansions of gambling.

“Today, online sports betting occurs throughout the state of Florida,” the lawsuit argues. “But no citizens’ initiative has ever been held to provide authorization. And the people of Florida have never been allowed to exercise their constitutional right to decide whether sports betting should be authorized throughout the state.”

Why The Lawsuit Was Filed

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature ratified the compact in 2021. When this happened, the Seminole Tribe earned a no-bid monopoly to operate mobile sports betting, with wagers funneled through servers on tribal land. The online betting platform, Hard Rock Bet, went live in late 2023, marking the expansion of gambling in the Sunshine State.

But Protect the Constitution LLC, a Delaware-based company whose unnamed members claim to have suffered financial harm, argues that the compact sidestepped the clear intent of Amendment 3, which Florida voters passed in 2018. That amendment was billed as a safeguard ensuring that any new legal sports betting or casino gambling outside tribal lands would require direct voter approval.

“The provision mandates that any new casino gambling, including sports betting, must be approved through a citizens’ initiative,” the complaint says, emphasizing that the amendment was “explicitly promoted to voters as a way to ensure that only the public—not state officials—would have the authority to expand gambling in Florida.”

Back In Court

This isn’t the first time the Florida sports betting arrangement has been challenged. West Flagler Associates, as well as Bonita-Fort Myers Corp., mounted legal battles in both federal and state courts. Although a federal district court initially sided with the challengers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed the decision in 2023.

As for the U.S. Supreme Court, in 2024, it declined to hear the case, cementing the Seminole Tribe’s monopoly.

At the state level, the Florida Supreme Court in March 2024 dismissed a related petition, not on the merits, but because the plaintiffs pursued an inappropriate legal vehicle known as a “writ of quo warranto.” The justices noted that while the petitioners may have valid constitutional concerns, those questions should be raised with a lawsuit – the route Protect the Constitution is now taking.

The Brass Tax

The core of the legal debate hinges on whether sports bets placed via smartphones anywhere in Florida can be considered “on tribal lands” simply because the servers processing those bets are located there. Amendment 3 included a carve-out for gambling on tribal lands negotiated under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), and the state has leaned heavily on this interpretation to justify the compact.

Meanwhile, the financial stakes are enormous.

The Seminole Tribe agreed to pay Florida in the first five years at least $2.5 billion. Yet, the amount of money bet on sports is “running much stronger than contemplated in the prior forecast” with an estimated $800 million in revenue collected per a Revenue Estimating Conference report.

Still, Protect the Constitution’s lawsuit underscores lingering concerns that the booming sports betting market was fast-tracked without giving Floridians a chance to weigh in.

The suit seeks a declaratory judgment and an injunction, naming as defendants the state, the Florida Gaming Control Commission, and its members.

Whether this latest legal gambit will halt sports betting in Florida remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the debate over who holds the cards in Florida is far from over.

Past Florida Sports Betting Legal Battles

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