Florida voters just made it more challenging to alter its laws concerning gambling. What does that mean for the future of sports gambling in the nation?
Florida and Amendment 3
On election night, since the majority of the country was observing to see if there was going to be an ideological shift in Congress, many in the gambling industry were watching a different race in Florida.
This race didn’t involve the election of an individual; the race was for Florida Amendment 3, a ballot measure that would shift the power from legislators to voters to authorize new casino gambling in the state.
The language of the measure was as follows:
“This amendment ensures that Florida voters shall have the exclusive right to choose whether to authorize casino gambling by requiring that in order for casino gaming to be authorized under Florida law, it has to be approved by Florida voters pursuant to Article XI, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution. Affects articles X and XI. Defines casino gambling and clarifies that this amendment doesn’t conflict with federal legislation regarding state/tribal compacts.”
Where did the gaming amendment come from?
Just two counties in Florida permit for”card games, casino games, casino games, and slot machines” in non-tribal owned facilities.
In 2004, before the present tribal compacts, under the opinion of then-Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida voters in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties passed a ballot initiative which enabled for slot machines in racing and jai-alai centers, which had functioned in the 2 decades prior.
The amendment effectively suggests that in order for the nation to expand casino gambling past the tribal casinos and existing racing and pari-mutuel centers, voters in Florida would have to initiate the process by collecting enough signatures to get the petition added into a ballot.
“In Florida, the amount of signatures required for an initiative is equivalent to 8 percent of the votes cast in the previous presidential elections. Florida also has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures equal to 8 percent of their district-wide vote in at least half (14) of the nation’s 27 congressional districts have to be collected.”
For reference, the 2016 Presidential election had 9,419,886 votes cast. Eight percent of the vote total is 753,591 signatures needed in order to get a casino growth measure on a future ballot. This is a daunting task, without thinking about the demand for geographical distribution, which is demanded.
There are, though, a couple of Florida-based groups that might be able to back a campaign of adequate size to gather these votes at one time in the future. Two that come to mind are Disney and the Seminole Tribe. Really, both Disney and the Seminoles were major backers for departure Amendment 3, supposedly putting in tens of millions of dollars to encourage the measure’s passage.
The resistance saw support from smaller gaming suppliers including West Flagler Associates and Hialeah Park, in addition to the Miami Dolphins, that (in)famously tweeted out an image that indicated the passing of Amendment 3″would block any chance for lawful sports betting in Florida.”
If the language of Amendment 3 appears complicated, that is because it is. The language used in the Amendment scored a grade-level rank of 24 (the equivalent of getting 24 years of formal schooling or sufficient time to make a Ph.D.) based on Ballotpedia, which ranks the readability of all ballot measures. Amendment 3 has been worded more complexly than many others, with the average ballot scoring between 19-20.
It doesn’t require a Ph.D. to see that the Amendment does not mention sports. So, does that imply that Florida can launch sports gambling shortly?
Not really.
What’s’casino gambling’?
In accordance with Ballotpedia, Amendment 3 defines casino gambling as card games, casino games and slot machines. There is no mention of sports betting. So, while it may appear that Amendment 3 leaves open the question of whether Florida can provide sports gambling, it fails the much larger problem, that the State of Florida includes a Class III gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe.
Sports betting is Class III gambling according to the Federal Register:
Class III gaming means all forms of gaming that are not class I gaming or class II gaming, including but not Limited to:
(a) Any home banking game, including but not Limited to —
(1) Card games such as baccarat, chemin de fer, blackjack (21), and pai gow (if played as house banking games);
(2) Casino games such as roulette, craps, and keno;
(b) Any slot machines as defined in 15 U.S.C. 1171(a)(1) and electronic or electromechanical facsimiles of any game of chance;
(c) Any sports betting and parimutuel wagering including but not limited to wagering on horse racing, dog racing or jai alai; or
(d) Lotteries.
While Amendment 3 doesn’t limit sports gambling, the present compact between the Seminole Tribe and the State of Florida may impose some limitations.
What is from the Florida gaming compact?
The Compact, which was signed in 2010 between the Seminole Tribe and the country (it was amended in 2015 to include authorization for extra games), stated:
“It’s in the best interests of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida for the State to enter into a compact with the Tribe that acknowledges that the Tribe’s right to offer certain Class III gambling and provides substantial exclusivity of these activities in conjunction with a reasonable revenue sharing agreement between the Tribe and the State that will entitle the State to significant revenue participation.”
In the”Covered Games” section of the compact, there is no mention of sports betting, but there is a statement that would seem to cover sports betting as inside the covered games segment:
“Any new sport authorized by Florida law for any individual for any purpose, except for banked card games approved for any other federally recognized tribe pursuant to [the] Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, provided that the tribe has land in federal trust in the State as of February 1, 2010.”
The tribe and the state agreed that the”Tribe is authorized to run Covered Games on Indian Lands….” While Part IV of the compact excludes numerous games such as roulette and craps (that were then allowed) there isn’t any mention of sports betting, as explicitly excluded.
The compact identifies seven Seminole-owned casinos that could be enlarged or replaced but doesn’t authorize new construction outside the present lands. In addition to abiding by state-sanctioned gaming principles, the tribe, in exchange for”tight but Significant exclusivity,” agreed to pay:
$12.5 million each month during the initial 24 months of the arrangement;
After that, 12 percent of internet wins all sums up to $2 billion;
15 percent on net wins between $2 and $3 billion;
17.5 percent on internet wins between $3 billion and $3.5 billion;
As much as 25 percent on all amounts greater than $4.5 billion each earnings sharing cycle.
These payments are due on the 15th of each month for twenty years from the initiation of the compact.
What about online gaming?
For those hoping for online gaming, there is a clause in the streamlined that says if the state law has been altered to provide online gambling and tribal gaming revenue falls over five percent in the past twelve months, the tribe has to substantially reduce their payments into the state below the guaranteed minimums. But, this won’t apply if the tribe provides online gambling, subject to express authorization.
In case the Seminole Tribe loses exclusivity, the state of Florida will be looking for a new source of revenue. Part XII Section A. of the Compact states:
“If, after February 1, 2010, Florida law is amended by action of the Florida Legislature or an amendment to the Florida Constitution to allow (1) the performance of Class III gaming or other casino-style gaming at any location under the authority of this State that was not in operation as of February 1, 2010, or (2) new forms of Class III gambling or other casino-style gaming that weren’t in operation at February 1, 2010.”
Should this occur, the tribe is entitled to cease some of their obligations until such gambling is no longer managed. Similarly, if present non-tribal facilities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties extend their Course III offerings, the Seminole Tribe can reduce some of their payments to the country as well.
So, about sports gambling…
It is not likely that Florida will see sports betting being provided by any entity apart from the Seminole Tribe.
The gaming compact negotiated between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida is rewarding for the nation and extremely beneficial for the tribe. For an overview of how rewarding this compact is for the State of Florida at 2016, the Seminole Tribe paid more than $300 million into the nation. The likelihood that Florida would undermine a portion of these payments to authorize something which would create as small extra state revenue as sports betting is incredibly unlikely.
While Florida sports gambling fans shouldn’t hold their breath for widespread lawful sports gambling, the Seminole Tribe could, under the streamlined, get the capability to offer it at their seven casinos. Even though the Seminole Tribe has previously expressed an interest in being able to provide sports betting at its Florida Hard Rock properties, they have recently been quiet on the matter within the state of Florida.
Amendment 3 did not foreclose on any hope of sports betting in Florida. However, under the existing gaming compact terms, it would seem to be a costly endeavor for state lawmakers to allow someone other than the Seminole Tribe to offer it entirely, a decision that would surely leave facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties unhappy.
Read more: todayinsport.net