It’s unlikely that Florida voters will get a chance to vote for the legalization of sports betting in the Sunshine State anytime soon. Supporters of the proposed amendment have so far failed to secure the required signatures.
Florida Education Champions, a political committee in support of legalizing sportsbooks in the state, called for the authorization of sports betting at pari-mutuel facilities, professional sports venues, and online platforms in Florida.
As per the proposal, the tax revenues generated from sportsbooks would have been channeled to the Education Enhancement Trust Fund to boost the public school funding.
Supporters
In addition, DraftKings and FanDuel, both supporters of the cause, have invested $22.7 million and $14.5 million, respectively. However, the committee had to secure 900,000 valid signatures by the 1st of February to obtain a place for the proposal in the November ballot.
Sadly, as reported by
legal gambling news
sites and confirmed later on the state Division of Elections website, they managed to get only 472,927 signatures. Thus ending the committee’s push for legalizing sports betting in Florida this time around.
Christina Johnson, the representative of Florida Education Champions, said that the committee ran into various challenges, notably the Omicron surge, which crippled their effort to collect in-person signatures. In addition, she added that the team is thankful to the local supervisors of elections and their staff for their efforts in verifying the petitions.
Christina also mentioned that their team would take account of all the possible options to ensure Floridians get complete access to safe and legal
sports betting sites
in the future. This, in turn, would produce hundreds of million dollars to improve the state’s public education.
A bit of background
In April 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe signed a multibillion-dollar agreement that sought to put the tribe in complete control over sports betting within Florida. The agreement mentioned above, also known as the compact, was signed by Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr., DeSantis, and Seminole Tribe of Florida, followed by authorization in a special session in May.
The compact embraces the “hub-and-spoke” plan, which proposed placing bets online where Seminole Tribe handles the wagers. Hence, for the first time ever, an online sportsbook went live in Florida, the Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app.
However, the agreement was short-lived, A case was filed before the court by the owners of the pari-mutuels Magic City Casino, located in Miami-Dade County and Bonita Springs Poker Room, in Southwest Florida, claiming that the compact disregarded the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, also known as IGRA.
Subsequently, sports betting was found illegal by US District Judge Dabney Friedrich in November, stating that its operation violates IGRA. Therefore, the compact was called off by the court, and as a result, the Hard Rock SportsBook mobile app rolled out by the Seminoles was also put to an end.
What next for sports betting enthusiasts in the Sunshine State?
For now, Florida has a very long wait to get another chance for legalizing sportsbooks in the state. The backers, DraftKings and FanDuel, could re-run another effort in the 2024 ballot. Although, relaunching the effort will require starting the whole process of collecting signatures again, as signatures from a petition can only be valid for one election, as per the state law.
To sum up, Florida Education Champions was not able to overcome a major obstacle to legalizing Florida sports betting sites. So now, the 2024 ballot is the only remaining option to ensure bettors in the Sunshine State get complete access to safe and legal sportsbooks.
However, it doesn’t mean you can’t place a wager on the Bucs or the Heat if you’re planning a vacation. Online sportsbooks are legal in many other states in the US, so if you were to visit any of them, you could certainly enjoy a bit of sports betting or play some games at an online casino.
