“Today’s decision will not be the final word on this issue,’’ said John Sowinski, spokesperson for No Casinos and Miami businessmen and gambling opponents Armando Codina and Norman Braman, who filed separate lawsuits alleging that the federal government improperly approved the gaming compact. But gambling opponents said the decision also opens the door for additional legal challenges. The ruling paves the way for an explosion of online betting in Florida if the tribe relaunches its Hard Rock Sportsbook betting app and pursues the possibility of two new casinos in South Florida. In a victory for the Seminole Tribe of Florida that could upend gambling in the state, a federal appeals court on Friday ordered the Department of Interior to reinstate the agreement that gave the tribe and its Hard Rock casinos a monopoly on sports betting in Florida.
A federal appeals court reversed that decision on Friday, June 30, 2023. A federal judge shut it down three weeks later with a ruling that the compact with the state of Florida violated federal Indian gaming laws. The Seminole Tribe quietly went live with sports betting in Florida Nov. The property currently has three hotel towers, a 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) casino, large poker room, a 4-acre (1.6 ha) lagoon-style pool facility with a center.
