U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued an order Thursday that will keep the Florida Seminoles from launching their Florida parimutuel West Flagler and Associates (WFA) filed with the court Oct. 6 asking for a stay and further communicating its intention to file a writ of certiorari.
In the order, Roberts requires a response from the defendant, the U.S. Department of the Interior, by 5 p.m. on Oct. 18. After that, the court will rule on whether or not to keep the stay in place. The Seminole Tribe declined a request form Sports Handle to comment on the order.
WFA has not filed its case with the Supreme Court, but it wrote in its argument for the stay that it will do so by Nov. 20. WFA is expected to argue that DOI Secretary Deb Haaland exceeded her power when she allowed a 2021 compact between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe to become “deemed approved.” The compact would give the Seminole Tribe a monopoly on digital sports betting and allow it to expand its gambling options.
According to WFA, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act only regulates gambling on Indian lands and therefore cannot be interpreted to regulate the hub-and-spoke model in the compact, which considers a bet placed anywhere in Florida to be on Indian lands if it flows through a server in Indian Country.
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The order is just the latest in a court case originally filed in 2021. So far, a district court has found in favor of West Flagler, which owns the Magic City Casino and Bonita Springs Card Room, and an appellate court has ruled against it.
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While the Seminoles won’t reveal their plans, those in the legal community have told Sports Handle that it seemed likely the tribe would not launch until all legal issues were resolved. In November 2021, the Seminoles launched wagering for 34 days while the district court case was in process, only to be told by both the district and appellate courts to take down their platform.
Should the Supreme Court choose to take the case when it is filed, it would set up the second opportunity for the high court to influence the structure of legal sports betting in the U.S. In 2018, when it struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, the court made legal wagering a states’ rights issue. Since then, some 35 U.S. jurisdictions have allowed legal sports betting in some fashion, including more than 25 that offer mobile wagering.
