Wagering In Florida In 2023? Judges Seem Split After Oral Arguments

Sports Handle reports

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is generally interpreted as governing gaming on tribal lands and gives tribes across the U.S. the right to offer it. In addition, Hamish Hume, an attorney for a pair of Florida parimutuels, said U.S. law defines the location of gambling as where the bet is placed and accepted.

Yet the Seminole Tribe’s 2021 compact with the state of Florida defines wagering as having happened on tribal lands no matter the location of the bettor within the state. That, according to Hume, the attorney for West Flagler and Associates, is at the heart of what makes the compact illegal and is wrong with the decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to deem it approved.

Hume made that argument Wednesday morning before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the the District of Columbia. The case in question, West Flagler Associates vs. Secretary Deb Haaland of the U.S. Department of the Interior, could determine the future of legal sports betting in Florida. Should Hume’s argument hold up and the appeals court uphold a lower-court decision, it’s likely the DOI would appeal.

On the flip side, Rachel Heron, on behalf of the DOI, argued that Haaland had no grounds to reject the compact last year because “it does not violate federal law.” In addition, a lawyer for the state of Florida had a chance to argue for “severability,” meaning the compact could be approved with the gambling sections removed; a lawyer for the Seminole Tribe argued that it deserves the opportunity to intervene in the case; and a lawyer for Monterra AF, which has a bigger interest in casino gaming than sports betting, argued that state constitutional issues go beyond the bounds of what the DOI can consider.

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Wagering In Florida In 2023? Judges Seem Split After Oral Arguments