Seminole Tribe of Florida reaches deal over online sports betting
The Seminole Tribe has entered into a deal with West Flagler Associates and the Bonita-Fort Myers Corp.
US.- Seminole Tribe of Florida leaders have announced an agreement with pari-mutuel companies to end litigation over a 2021 deal that gave the tribe statewide control over online sports betting. The agreement was reached with West Flagler Associates and its owner Isadore Havenick, Bonita-Fort Myers Corp and Southwest Florida Enterprises.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida and West Flagler Associates have agreed to promote jai alai betting on the Seminole’s Hard Rock Bet app from 2025. As part of the deal, West Flagler has committed to halting all legal challenges against the Seminole Tribe’s gaming operations.
Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming, described the partnership as a “win-win” arrangement. He said: “Rather than engaging in years of additional litigation, this agreement will allow the parties to work together to promote jai alai, which has played an important role in Florida’s gaming landscape for nearly 100 years.”
Havenick added: “We are thrilled to be partnering with the Seminole Tribe in support of its gaming operations in Florida and to promote Jai Alai, which has been a critical component of Florida’s gaming industry since the 1920s.”
West Flagler, which owns two Florida pari-mutuels, spent three years in state and federal courts challenging the compact that granted the Seminole Tribe exclusive rights to online sports betting in Florida. Under the 2021 compact, any sports bet made within Florida and processed through servers located on Seminole lands is legally considered to have been placed on tribal land, enabling statewide digital wagering through the tribe’s infrastructure.
However, any commercial entity interested in entering Florida’s online sports betting market must partner with the tribe, pay it 60 per cent of gross gaming revenue and operate on the Seminole’s server network.
The deal may pave the way for more developments. The compact includes a clause that allows the Seminoles to offer any “new game authorised by Florida law,” suggesting that if online casinos are legalised in the state, the Seminole Tribe could expand its digital portfolio.
