In a split decision, a federal appeals court has rejected an emergency request by the Seminole Tribe of Florida to suspend the judgment of a lower court that ruled the tribe’s new sports gaming pact with Florida violates federal law.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday rejected the tribe’s arguments in a case involving two Florida pari-mutuel wagering entities. The pari-mutuels sued the U.S. Department of the Interior for approving the pact between the tribe and Florida – neither of which were parties in the lawsuit filed in the District of Columbia.
“Without a stay, the tribe will suffer injury to its sovereignty, and hundreds of tribal and vendor jobs related to sports betting, craps and roulette will be lost, hurting hundreds of Floridians and their families,” attorneys for the tribe argued in their motion for a stay. “Further, tens of millions of dollars in investments will be jeopardized, and the people of Florida will lose nearly $40 million per month in tribal payments.”
The appeals court denied the emergency motion, saying that the tribe had not met the high bar of requirements to stay the district court’s Nov. 22 order scrapping the sports gaming pact pending appeal.
A spokesman for the tribe said that as a result of the appeals court ruling, Hard Rock Sportsbook would temporarily stop operations of its mobile gaming app in Florida.
“Account balances for all current players will be refunded as requested,” Gary Bitner said in an email to the Florida Record. “Despite the decision, the Seminole Tribe looks forward to working with the state of Florida and the U.S. Department of Justice to aggressively defend the validity of the 2021 Compact before the appeals court, which has yet to rule on the merits of the 2021 Compact.”
The state of Florida maintains the compact is legal, and U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland allowed the compact to take effect. But district Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled the online betting provision in the agreement violated the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, concluding that the law limits such gaming to tribal lands.
Active bets involving sports events that started after 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 4 have been voided, and betting amounts will be returned to customers, according to Hard Rock Sportsbook. No new bets or accounts will be allowed using the mobile app until the legal battle is resolved.