https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hollywood-floridausa-september-06-2019-aerial-1497837050
Alt text: Seminole tribes Hard Rock casino in Florida
Caption: While some paramutuels are against the Seminole’s monopoly on Florida online sports betting, five other have signed an agreement that cuts them a 60% profit from the marketing of sports wagering.
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hollywood-floridausa-september-06-2019-aerial-1497837053
Alt text: Seminole tribes Hard Rock casino in Florida
Caption: While some paramutuels are against the Seminole’s monopoly on Florida online sports betting, five other have signed an agreement with the tribe which cuts them 60% profit from the marketing of sports wagering.
60% cut
The Seminole Tribe of Florida has strengthened its grip on Florida online sports betting by inking agreements with five parimutuels. The agreements announced October 28 effectively give the parimutuels a 60% cut of profits generated through their marketing of sports wagering once legal sports betting rolls out in Florida.
Seminole Casino IMK, the Twitter page for the tribe’s Immokalee casino and hotel in Florida, took to Twitter with news of the marketing agreements with the five entities.
The five pari-mutuels to sign agreements with the Seminole Tribe are Palm Beach Kennel Club, Hialeah Park Casino, Ocala Gainesville Poker and Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co., Tampa Bay Downs, and Tampa’s TGT Poker & Racebook.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a gaming compact this spring, which when approved by lawmakers in May, gave the Seminoles a monopoly over sports betting in the state. A key part of the approved gambling deal was allowing people throughout Florida to make online sports wagers via servers located on tribal lands.
Another focal point of the deal called for the Seminoles to negotiate agreements with pari-mutuel facilities, which can’t offer fixed odds or online sports wagering. In return for marketing sports betting, Tampa Bay Downs et al will get a percentage of the profits made from converted marketing leads.
More to come
The Seminole tribe said Thursday it expects to ink more agreements with other parimutuels in the state.
parimutuels are “an important component for the coming launch of sports betting throughout the state of Florida.”
In a statement, Seminole Gaming CEO and chairman of Hard Rock International Jim Allen said the agreements reflect “the tribe’s commitment to include pari-mutuel marketing partners in Florida sports betting.” Allen added the parimutuels are “an important component for the coming launch of sports betting throughout the state of Florida.”
But not everyone’s happy with the Seminole’s monopoly on online sports wagering. Two prominent South Florida businessmen and the owners of the pari-mutuels Magic City Casino in Miami-Dade County and Bonita Springs Poker Room in Southwest Florida are waiting to have their federal lawsuits challenging the launch of online sports betting in Florida heard in Washington, D.C.
These are the remaining two suits that could potentially jeopardize online sports betting in Florida. A US District Court Judge already dismissed one lawsuit, ruling that the plaintiffs had no standing because they could not demonstrate the updated compact signed by DeSantis was damaging to the parimutuels.
First $37m down
Under the new DeSantis-negotiated compact, the Seminoles will pay $2.5bn to California over the first five years. According to the Miami Herald, the Seminole tribe said October 28 that the state received its first payment of $37m during the month, with DeSantis issuing a statement describing the compact as “historic.”
deal also “brings together Florida pari-mutuel businesses”
As well as flagging up the billions in revenue coming state coffers way, DeSantis said the deal also “brings together Florida pari-mutuel businesses from across the state in a creative partnership with the Seminole Tribe.”