A compact that grants the Seminole Tribe of Florida the exclusive right to offer sports betting in Florida is a win-win for the state and the tribe and a model for other states to follow, McGuireWoods partner Mike Andrews told ESPN in a June 26, 2024, story.
After the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to legalized sports betting in 2018, the state and the tribe renegotiated their compact. Any sports bet placed on the internet from anywhere in Florida is now valid, so long as the bet comes to rest on a Seminole reservation server. On June 17, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a ruling that upheld the renegotiated compact.
Andrews, also a Washington, D.C., senior vice president leading McGuireWoods Consulting’s policy work on matters impacting Native American tribes, told ESPN that Florida “cut a great deal with the Seminole Nation.” Sports betting is projected to generate over $3 billion in revenues there and the state will pocket more than half of that.
Several states that legalized sports betting, such as New York and Connecticut, could revise their laws to copy Florida’s, Andrews said. In the longer term, the Seminole compact could offer a model for California, which has more federally recognized tribes, to legalize sports betting for the first time.
“There’s enough . . . of a market share that if you play smart and you work well together, there’s no reason why everybody can’t enjoy the [benefits] of gaming,” Andrews said. “Everybody wins.”