Seminole Hard Rock Becomes First Online Sportsbook In Florida

• The Seminole Tribe of Florida launched their Hard Rock Sportsbook on Monday without any prior warning in press releases or promotional materials.
• The surprise launch comes just before an important court hearing on Friday which will rule on the legality of the tribal compact’s mobile sports betting provision.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida has become the most populated state in the union to offer legal online sportsbooks after Seminole Hard Rock launched their online sportsbook without warning on Monday.

The Seminole tribe did not issue a press release or any promotional materials containing a launch date prior to Monday, when they posted a full page notice on their webpage informing players that they could download their mobile app, register, and begin placing bets.

The sportsbook app is available for download on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Users must be 21 years of age or older to create an account and begin placing bets.

Under the terms outlined in the newest compact, mobile sports betting could have launched as early as October 15, but the legal questions delayed that launch to November 1.

The launch comes after an extended period of intricate legal questions regarding the mobile sports betting element of the updated tribal compact. One of the largest and most important legal questions surrounding the launch of mobile sports betting in Florida was if housing servers on tribal lands (but offering services to users anywhere within the state) satisfied the IGRA requirement for all wagers to be placed on tribal lands.

While the launch is a huge step for the Florida legal sports gambling market, there are still a few legal obstacles in the way, including two pending lawsuits.

Two pari-mutuel facilities (Magic City Casino and Bonita Springs Poker Room) filed a federal suit against the Department Of Interior for their handling of the contract. Another lawsuit was filed by the special interest group No Casinos, which argues that by allowing the compact to go into effect, the DOI violated the Florida Constitution, the Wire Act, and IGRA.

While these legal developments continue to unfold, the Hard Rock Sportsbook will be accepting new accounts and wagers. The court will be hearing one of these cases Friday, with the future of Florida’s online gambling industry likely in the hands of the presiding judge.

The rushed nature of the launch may prove costly to the industry in the state as a whole. The tribe stated in court papers for the lawsuit that the launch would not take place before November 15, and the early launch “will likely not go over well with the federal district court judge,” according to Daniel Wallach, principal at Wallach Legal.

There is some worrying precedent for the Seminole Tribe - there were two failed attempts by Congress to add sports betting to the IGRA; the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed that bettors placing mobile wagers outside tribal lands are not protected by IGRA; and Florida’s prior admission on an almost identical point all lead to trouble for the online sports betting component of the gaming compact.

While the legality of the online sports betting industry will likely remain a hard-fought legal issue for the foreseeable future, bettors in Florida can still sign up and place wagers on the Seminole Hard Rock mobile app as of Monday, and it would likely take a court order for the sportsbook to be shut down post-launch.