- Magic City Casino Owners filed a second lawsuit to oppose the Seminole-Florida Gaming Compact.
- Seminole casinos can accept cash for sports wagers under the compact, but parimutuels cannot.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The 2021 Seminole-Florida Gaming Compact continues to face opposition as two parimutuel facilities have teamed up to file a second lawsuit to challenge it.
Roughly two weeks since the U.S. Department of the Interior allowed the gambling compact to pass, the compact already faces quite the opposition.
The New Lawsuit
This new lawsuit comes from the owners of the Miami-Dade County Magic City Casino, and the Bonita Springs Poker Room in Southwest Florida. Much like the first lawsuit, this one also claims that the compact violates federal law, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and the Wire Act.
“Through this fiction, the compact and implementing law seek to expand sports betting outside of Indian lands to individuals located anywhere in Florida so long as they have a computer and internet connection — subject only to the tribe’s monopoly,” said the lawyers for the parimutuels in the 43-page lawsuit.
Complaints regarding the compact also assert that it places parimutuels at a disadvantage by allowing Seminoles to accept cash for sports bets, but not the parimutuels.
Also, because gamblers would be able to gamble online, their incentive for in-person visits would be diminished.
The Future Of Florida Sports Betting
Opposition to the Seminole-Florida Gaming Compact continues to stack up. Between the initial lawsuit filed by No Casinos Inc. and this new lawsuit by the parimutuels, the fate of both the compact and Florida sports betting is questionable.