It’s a historic day in Florida as craps, roulette and in-person sports betting will be available for the first time at casinos run by the Seminole Tribe.
All three Seminole casinos in South Florida are kicking off the landmark event with celebrations Thursday that include the first roll of craps game dice and the first spin of the roulette wheel.
Craps, roulette and sports betting is set to debut in Florida, and our community reporter Gaby Allen has a closer look at how Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood is getting you prepared
Local celebrities were on hand Thursday to welcome the new games.
“They’ve actually brought Vegas to South Florida,” said former Miami Hurricanes and NFL football player Edgerrin James.
Performer Willy Chirino said he looks forward to what it means for the entertainment industry and beyond.
“Thousands of jobs are gonna be added to this community, and billions of dollars are coming to this community,” he said.
Here’s a look at what led to the historic milestone.
The Gaming Compact
Although casinos have been in Florida for years, certain games and sports betting haven’t been available in the state.
In 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. signed a 30-year deal, otherwise known as the Gaming Compact, which the state Legislature ratified.
Along with giving the Seminoles control over online sports betting, the compact allowed the tribe to offer craps and roulette at its casinos. Also, the deal would allow the Seminoles to add three casinos on tribal property in Broward County.
The Seminole Tribe would be able to operate sports betting and add roulette and craps to its casinos and Florida would potentially receive $20 billion over the next 30 years, under an agreement the Legislature approved. NBC 6’s Steve Litz reports
In exchange, the tribe pledged to pay the state a minimum of $2.5 billion over the first five years and possibly billions of dollars more throughout the three-decade pact. The deal also added Florida to numerous states that jumped into sports betting after a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for such wagering in New Jersey.
Florida’s original compact with the Seminoles gave the tribe exclusive rights to slot machines and blackjack. In exchange, the tribe paid the state several billion dollars. Payments stopped in 2019.
Legal Battles
The compact quickly came under scrutiny and became a legal fight when a group of South Florida businessmen sued the federal government to overturn the gambling agreement, claiming that the state constitution requires voters approve an expansion of gambling.
Owners of Magic City Casino in Miami-Dade County and Bonita Springs Poker Room in Southwest Florida contended in the lawsuit that the sports-betting plan violates federal laws and would cause a “significant and potentially devastating” impact on their businesses.
Critics of the compact argued that the sports-betting arrangement would not comply with a 2018 constitutional amendment that requires statewide voter approval of gambling expansions in Florida. Under what is known as Amendment 3, expansions of gambling must be placed on the statewide ballot through the citizens’ initiative process.
The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately rejected one of the attempts to block the implementation of the deal. Another lawsuit has gone before the Florida Supreme Court.
Sports Betting
The Seminoles briefly rolled out the Hard Rock SportsBook mobile app amid the legal wrangling but stopped accepting wagers and deposits on the app in December 2021, after around 34 days.
Hard Rock Bet had a limited launch in November to existing customers from the 2021 launch, and this week became available to all Floridians.
With the move, Florida now joins more than 30 other states across the country that have legalized sports betting in one form or another.
The compact has been touted as the largest gaming compact in U.S. history by a DeSantis spokesperson and has been praised by the governor.
The Seminole Tribe’s mobile sports betting app has fully launched and is now available to all Floridians, the tribe announced Tuesday.
“The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s new initiative will create jobs, increase tourism, and provide billions in added revenue for our state,” DeSantis said in a statement. “I was proud to work with the Tribe on our historic Gaming Compact and I look forward to its full implementation.”
“This is a historic milestone that immediately puts Florida in the same league with the world’s great gaming destinations,” said Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming and Chairman of Hard Rock International.
