Florida Sports Betting Fight Goes to U.S. Supreme Court

TALLAHASSEE — Saying the case holds “massive importance for the future of online gaming across the country,” two pari-mutuel companies have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a 2021 deal giving the Seminole Tribe control over sports betting in Florida.

The companies last week sought Supreme Court review of an appellate court’s decision upholding the deal, which could reap Florida at least $2.5 billion over the next five years and is also the subject of a legal challenge at the Florida Supreme Court.

Lawyers for West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. filed the petition at the U.S. Supreme Court less than a month after the tribe paid nearly $58 million to the state in the first installment of a revenue-sharing agreement after the Seminoles launched mobile sports betting in November.

The federal lawsuit is focused on part of the 2021 deal between the tribe and the state that allowed the Seminoles to control sports betting throughout Florida. The deal said bets “using a mobile app or other electronic device shall be deemed to be exclusively conducted by the tribe.”