We got yer gambling news right here! News out of Florida could have a profound effect on US online gambling efforts. A decision from a judge in the Florida sports betting case with the Seminole Tribe has precedent setting potential for the entire country! And it’s all playing out as regulators and Tribal Gaming interests watch.
Hello friends! J.Todd back after a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday. And of course, while I’m gone all hell breaks loose with a story that has serious implications for US online gambling, sports betting, and tribal gaming all across the country! Including where you live! And that is this week’s big story! Back in May, Florida and the Seminole Tribe agreed to a deal to bring regulated sports betting to the state. A deal which included both mobile and online betting. A deal that was passed by the State Legislature, signed by the Governor, and approved by the US Department of the Interior. But, something went wrong!
Now, without being too technical, it seems that this agreement was in violation of Florida’s constitution, which says that no betting can take place anywhere in the state unless a constitutional amendment is passed… except when it takes place on Tribal land… like the Seminole’s Tribal land. And here’s where things get interesting! Now, in order to get around this whole constitutional amendment thing, the state argued that (so long as the gaming servers were physically located on Tribal land) it really didn’t matter where the players were physically located. A decision that could have thrown open the doors for all sorts of online gambling all across America! Maybe even internationally!
You see my friends, when it comes to US online gambling and mobile betting there’s always been this legal debate about where a bet actually takes place. Is it where the player physically makes the bet? Is it where the casino physically accepts the bet? Is it on the servers which could be located miles away? Or is it some convoluted combination of all these things? Now, for some of you the answer seems obvious. But I assure you that when it comes to law and money, there are no simple answers. Where a virtual bet actually takes place has some serious ramifications… not just for regulatory purposes, but for tax collecting purposes! Not to mention deciding who can and cannot play online casino games for real money! There’s been no legal president set on this… at least, not yet!
A Federal Judge has decided that online bets take place where the player is physically located… regardless of if the server is on Tribal Land or not! It’s a decision that could have far-reaching legal and economic consequences for both mobile and online gambling in other states. Not only that, there’s this real nagging question about Tribal sovereignty! The Seminoles argue that since they are a sovereign nation this whole case should simply be thrown out!
Meanwhile, other tribes interested in online gambling and sports betting (like those in Connecticut, Arizona and all across the country) they’re watching this case very closely! Meanwhile down in Florida, mobile sports betting continues as the Seminoles seem to be ignoring the ruling of the Federal Judge… at least for now. The rest of us can only sit and watch and wait to see what happens with US online gambling and tribal gaming.
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And finally this week, Mississippi sports betting has become the latest to set a revenue record, bringing in just over $83 million in the month of October. The governor of the state said this is the most exciting thing that’s happened to them since Biloxi got that blinking red light. Well that, and when Mobile got that Walmart Super Center. Hey, it’s open 24 hours! And they’ve got groceries!
