26 Oct

Gambling News

The US Supreme Court has rejected West Flagler's plea for a stay.

The US Supreme Court has rejected West Flagler Associates' request for a stay, providing optimism for Florida's Seminole tribe on a sports betting resurgence in the Sunshine State.
Chief Justice John Roberts of the US Supreme Court dismissed the move to stay on October 25, defined by the official Supreme Court blog as a "emergency application for stay."

Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, stated that he concurred with the court's ruling.

“I concur that the application for a stay should be rejected, given the DC Circuit's declaration that the agreement between Florida and the Seminole tribe permits the tribe to engage solely in on-reservation gaming operations, excluding off-reservation gaming operations,” he stated.

“Should the compact permit the tribe to engage in off-reservation gaming operations, either directly or by categorising such operations as on-reservation, it would likely contravene the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as elucidated by the District Court.”

West Flagler has until December 11 to submit a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court. Certiorari is a directive issued by a superior court to examine a case that was originally adjudicated in a subordinate court.

What implications does this hold for the Seminole tribe?
The rejection of the possibility that the Seminoles may be allowed to initiate sports betting via Hard Rock Bet in the future. In April 2021, state governor Ron DeSantis authorised a gaming contract that granted the tribe the rights to provide sports betting in Florida.

However, the implementation of Hard Rock Bet abruptly ceased in December 2021, following the District of Columbia's determination that the Seminole tribe's contract violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). This conclusion was derived from a lawsuit initiated by West Flagler and Bonita-Fort Myers, which contested whether the provision of online sports betting statewide via servers located on tribe grounds constitutes betting on tribal land.

However, the District of Columbia's court verdict was overturned in June 2023 by the DC District Court of Appeals, reinstating the Seminoles' autonomy in Florida.

The narrative thus far
This initiated a contentious dispute between West Flagler and multiple legal organisations. In August, West Flagler submitted a petition for rehearing in the case it lost in June against Debra Haaland, the Secretary of the Interior. The Circuit Court judges dismissed West Flagler’s claim that Haaland breached the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by failing to act on the 2021 compact sanctioned by DeSantis, so permitting it to become law after 45 days.

West Flagler initiated a legal challenge against DeSantis and the Florida legislature in September, asserting that DeSantis had "exceeded his authority" by initially authorising the compact.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately denied the review requested by the pari-mutuel betting companies. This prompted West Flagler to submit a motion for a stay in anticipation of its appeal to the Supreme Court.

However, the DOI contested the petition to stay, asserting that West Flagler's move failed to satisfy the criteria for certiorari. The DC Circuit Court ultimately refused the application for a stay.

However, this did not perturb West Flagler and Bonita-Fort Myers. Earlier last month, the operators petitioned the Supreme Court to prevent the Seminole tribe from launching Hard Rock Bet. The Supreme Court subsequently granted the operators' plea for a temporary stay.