Florida Announces Launch of Retail Sports Betting in December

With the US Supreme Court giving the state’s gaming compact the green light last week, Florida is ready to kick off sports betting officially. They announced this week that in-person sports betting will begin on December 7, 2023. The Seminole Tribe, who has sole rights over sports betting in the state, will have sports betting go live at their casino locations across the state. While physical sportsbooks have not been finished yet, the casinos will offer kiosks to allow bettors to place their wagers.

Sports betting has been on hold in Florida due to a lawsuit challenging the state’s gaming compact. A group of pari-mutuel betting businesses sued the state over their decision to award sole rights for the industry to the Seminole Tribe. They have been fighting the gaming compact in federal court, but the nation’s highest court put an end to their challenge when it gave the Seminole Tribe the green light to launch sports betting.

“The Seminole Tribe thanks the state of Florida, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Department of Justice for defending our compact. By working together, the tribe, the state, and the federal government achieved a historic legal victory,” Seminole Tribe Chairperson Marcellus Osceola Jr. said in a prepared statement.

Online Sports Betting Launch Still Pending

While the retail sports betting industry has an official launch date, we still do not have a clear idea of when we can expect mobile betting to go live. Online sports betting was at the heart of legal challenges to the Sunshine State’s gaming compact. While the fight in federal court is over, a challenge is still being reviewed by the Florida State Supreme Court. 

The Seminole Tribe does have a sports betting platform that is live in other states, named Hard Rock Bet. That should help the state launch online betting quickly, but it will be up to the Tribe to decide if they will push for a quick launch or choose to wait for all legal challenges to end officially.