Florida’s Special Session To Ratify The New Seminole Compact Starts Today
Bottom Line: Five days, nine bills and billions of dollars. That’s what’s on the line this week in Tallahassee as Florida’s special session for the purpose of ratifying the recently renegotiated Seminole compact with the introduction of sports gaming in Florida. First here’s a refresh on the key points from the renegotiated 75 page compact:
- Outstanding gaming violations of the existing Seminole compact would be settled with existing non-tribal operators able to operate as they have been
- Sports betting would be enabled
- The Seminoles would oversee all sports betting operations in Florida, receiving 10% of the net winnings of all other participating operators
- The Seminoles would be able to partner exclusively with an out-of-state online sports betting service
And what it would mean for the state:
- An estimated increase in annual revenue totaling $500 million
The $500 million figure is an increase of $150 million annually over the previous compact which the Seminoles hadn’t paid since 2018 – due to grievances with the state over exclusivity enforcement. The bottom line is that the stakes are high for all involved. Interestingly, the strategy employed by legislators appears to have been to a la carte the proposals. My estimation was that as few as four bills would have to pass in order to enact the compact. Instead, there are nine:
- Implementation of the 2021 Gaming Compact Between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida
- Gaming Enforcement
- Public Records and Public Meetings/Florida Gaming Control Commission
- Gaming
- Bingo
- Taxes/Bingo Operators
- Fees/Bingo Licenses
- Fantasy Sports Contest Amusement Act
- Fees/Fantasy Contest Operator License
This is the mac daddy approach. If there are certain legislators who support some of the compact's proposals, but not all of them, they can vote as they see fit without being all in or all out. They can also be more easily amended in session. This increases the likelihood of passage of the full ball of wax. Secondarily, and perhaps most importantly, assuming passage of these proposals this week, when the certain legal challenges are brought by the No Casinos PAC, a judge could strike down specific aspects of the expanded gaming without taking down the whole law. It’s a big game with high stakes this week in Tallahassee. More to come...
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