District of Columbia Circuit Court Deems Sports Betting Legal in Florida
On 30 June 2023, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals made an important ruling by overturning a December 2022 lower court judgment. The judgment had barred Florida’s Seminole Gaming Compact from operating in the Sunshine State.
The ruling means the reintroduction of the 2021 30-year Compact between the Seminole tribe and Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis. Sports bettors will again be able to place bets from anywhere in Florida. The only proviso is that they get processed on servers located on Seminole land.
Can Floridians Again Bet on Sports?
Despite the recent ruling, sports betting in Florida remains illegal for the time being. Until respondents have had an opportunity to appeal the ruling, there will be no change to the current sports betting status quo in the state. In fact, it is likely that the case will end up in front of the United States Supreme Court to reach its final verdict.
What the 24-page ruling does, is set the wheels in motion for the return of the Seminole Compact to the legal list of FL gambling sites on BBI. Florida’s neighboring states of Arkansas and Mississippi have already embraced legal sports betting. As such, it should only be a matter of time before the Sunshine State joins its ranks.
Supporters of Florida Sports Betting
Adding to the obvious State of Florida and Seminole tribe support for sports betting is that of the U.S. Department of the Interior. As the overseers of tribal gambling, it involved its lawyers in presenting the case of an appeal to reinstate the Compact.
The NBA’s Miami Heat team has a partnership with a primary sports betting brand. The MLB side, the Tampa Bay Marlins, has an existing partnership with the Seminole tribe. Major League Baseball itself partners with a famous casino brand and has done so since sports betting was first legalized.
The NHL names a sports betting operator and casino brand among its partners. Local NHL member, the Tampa Bay Lightning, also has an existing relationship with a sports betting operator. Should the recent ruling get ratified, it’s likely that many others will join this list of supporters.
When Legal, How Can Bettors Wager on Sports in Florida?
Floridians will have many legal sports betting options when they’re allowed to again place bets in the Sunshine State. These include the following, among others:
Live betting
The majority of online sports betting sites offer live betting. Bettors place these while sporting events are in progress. This means the odds can fluctuate a great deal depending on the event’s current status. A bettor needs a quick brain to make the most of the live odds on offer.
Futures
Futures are bets that bettors place for upcoming and future sports events. There are many diverse ways to bet futures. Among the most popular are wagering on Championship results, MVPs, and win totals or differentials. Although they aren’t limited to football, many futures bets take place in the summer months leading up to football seasons.
Propositions
Props are betting forms that don’t rely on final match or event results. Instead, they get based on the “over-under” achievements of competing individuals. For example, a bettor could wager that a soccer player scores more than two goals in a match to get longer odds.
