This is a historic day for the state of Florida, as for the first time craps, roulette and in-person sports betting will be available at a casino operated by the Seminole Tribe.
All three Seminole casinos in South Florida will kick off groundbreaking events Thursday with celebrations that include the first roll of the dice in a craps game and the first spin of the roulette wheel.
Craps, roulette and sports betting are set to debut in Florida, and community reporter Gabby Allen takes a closer look at how Hollywood’s Hard Rock Casino is preparing.
Local celebrities were in attendance Thursday to welcome the new game.
“They really brought Las Vegas to South Florida,” said former Miami Hurricanes and NFL football player Edgerrin James.
Performer Willie Cirino said he’s looking forward to seeing what it means for the entertainment industry and beyond.
“It’s going to add thousands of jobs to this community and bring billions of dollars into this community,” he said.
Here’s a look at how we reached this historic milestone.
gaming compact
Casinos have existed in Florida for years, but certain games and sports betting were not available in the state.
In 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Seminole Tribal Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. signed a 30-year agreement, also known as the Gaming Compact, which was approved by the state Legislature.
The agreement gives the Seminole Tribe control over online sports betting and allows its casinos to offer craps and roulette. The deal also allows the Seminole Tribe to add three casinos on tribal land in Broward County.
The Seminole Tribe will be able to operate sports betting and add roulette and craps to its casinos, and the state of Florida could receive $20 billion over the next 30 years under a deal approved by Congress. NBC 6’s Steve Ritz reports.
In return, the tribes promised to pay the state a minimum of $2.5 billion over the first five years and likely billions more over the course of the 30-year agreement. The deal also joins a number of states that have jumped into sports betting following a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for sports betting in New Jersey.
The original agreement between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe gave the tribe exclusive rights to slot machines and blackjack. In return, the tribes paid billions of dollars to the state. Payments were suspended in 2019.
legal battle
The agreement quickly came under intense scrutiny, and a group of South Florida businessmen sued the federal government to overturn the gambling agreement, arguing that the state constitution required voters to approve gambling expansion, leading to a legal battle. became.
The owners of Magic City Casino in Miami-Dade County and Bonita Springs Poker Room in Southwest Florida say in a lawsuit that the sports betting scheme violates federal law and poses a “significant and potential threat” to their businesses. It was argued that it would have a devastating effect on
Critics of the deal argued that the sports betting arrangement does not comply with a 2018 constitutional amendment that requires statewide voter approval to expand gambling in Florida. The so-called Third Amendment requires any gambling expansion to be placed on the statewide ballot through a citizen-initiated process.
The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately rejected one attempt to block implementation of the agreement. Another case was brought to the Florida Supreme Court.
sports betting
The Seminoles briefly launched the Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app amid the legal dispute, but stopped accepting wagers and deposits on the app approximately 34 days later in December 2021.
Hard Rock Bet launched exclusively to existing customers in November after its 2021 launch, but became available to all Floridians this week.
With this move, Florida joins more than 30 other states across the country that have legalized some form of sports betting.
The compact has been touted by a DeSantis spokesperson as the largest gaming compact in U.S. history and has been praised by the governor.
The Seminole Tribe’s mobile sports betting app has been fully released and is now available to all Florida residents, the tribe announced Tuesday.
“The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s new initiative will create jobs, increase tourism and bring billions of dollars in additional revenue to our state,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Historic Gaming is proud to work with the Tribe at the Compact and looks forward to its full implementation.”
“This is a historic milestone that immediately puts Florida on par with the world’s great gaming cities,” said Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming and Chairman of Hard Rock International.