Appeals Court Refuse Sports Betting Rehearing in Florida

West Flagler Associates who are trying to fight the Florida compact between the Seminole Tribe and U.S. Department of the Interior to allow the tribe to have exclusive rights for sports betting in the state have taken a blow in their battle.

A federal appeals court has decided it will not re-hear the case to reverse the compact in the Sunshine State. West Flagler Associates filed a petition for an en banc hearing however these are rarely given and once again in this case was refused.

However this does not mean sports betting can return to Florida where the compact was finalised in 2021.

This leaves the plaintiff with just two options in its battle against the Florida state and the Seminole Tribe, the first is to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case or return to state courts.

West Flagler Associates argue that the deal to allow the tribe to have exclusive rights to have servers placed on their tribal land allowed them to have exclusive rights in who could run sports betting both retail and online and that violated the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Legal observers believe that should West Flagler Associates petition the U.S Supreme Court it could most likely accept the case it would have wide ranging effects if the plaintiff won the case for other states and tribes that have similar compacts.

However any decision and hearing is a long way off as many believe it will be a year or more until any decision by the Court would be made. That means for the immediate to short term Florida residents will have to wait to place a bet on sports.