Florida voters just made it harder to alter its laws concerning gaming. What does that mean for the future of sports gambling from the state?
Florida and Amendment 3
On Friday evening, since most of the nation was observing to see if there was likely to be an ideological shift in Congress, many in the gambling industry were seeing a different race in Florida.
This race didn’t entail the election of a person; the race was for Florida Amendment 3, a ballot measure that would shift the power from legislators to voters to authorize brand new casino gambling in the state.
The language of the measure has been 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 must be approved by Florida voters pursuant to Article XI, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution. Affects articles X and XI. Defines casino gambling and explains that this amendment doesn’t conflict with federal legislation concerning state/tribal compacts.”
Where did the gambling amendment come out of?
Just two counties in Florida permit for”card games, casino games, and slot machines” at non-tribal owned facilities.
In 2004, before the current tribal compacts, under the opinion of then-Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida voters in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties passed a ballot initiative that allowed for slot machines in racing and jai-alai facilities, which had functioned in the two decades prior.
The amendment effectively means that in order for the nation to expand casino gaming past the tribal casinos and existing racing and pari-mutuel facilities, voters in Florida would need to initiate the procedure by collecting enough signatures to get the petition added into a ballot.
“In Florida, the amount of signatures required to get an initiative is equivalent to 8% of the votes cast in the preceding presidential elections. Florida also includes a touch supply demand, which requires that signatures equal to 8% of their district-wide vote at at least half (14) of the state’s 27 congressional districts have to be gathered.”
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 acquire a casino expansion measure on a future ballot. This is an intimidating endeavor, without thinking about the demand for geographic distribution, which can be demanded.
There are, though, a couple of Florida-based groups that may be able to back a campaign of adequate size to collect these votes at one time in the future. Two which come to mind are Disney and the Seminole Tribe. Indeed, both Disney and the Seminoles were major backers for departure Amendment 3, supposedly putting in tens of millions of dollars to support the measure’s passage.
The resistance saw support from smaller gaming providers such as West Flagler Associates and Hialeah Park, in addition to the Miami Dolphins, who (in)famously tweeted an image that implied that the passage of Amendment 3″would block any opportunity for legal sports betting in Florida.”
If the language of Amendment 3 appears complicated, that is because it is. The language employed in the Amendment scored a grade-level position of 24 (the equivalent of getting 24 years of formal education 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, together with the average ballot scoring between 19-20.
It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to realize that the Amendment doesn’t mention sports. So, does that mean that Florida can launch sports betting soon?
Not really.
What’s’casino gambling’?
According to Ballotpedia, Amendment 3 defines casino gambling since card games, casino games and slot machines. There is absolutely no mention of sports betting. Therefore, while it may seem that Amendment 3 leaves open the question of whether Florida can offer sports betting, it fails the much larger problem, that the State of Florida includes a Class III gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe.
Sports gambling is Class III gaming based on this Federal Register:
Class III gaming means all forms of gaming That Aren’t class I gaming or class II gaming, including but not limited to:
(a) Any house banking game, such as but not Limited to —
(1) Card games like baccarat, chemin de fer, blackjack (21), and pai gow (if played as house banking matches );
(2) Casino games like 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 gambling and parimutuel wagering such as but not Limited to wagering on horse racing, dog racing or jai alai; or
(d) Lotteries.
While Amendment 3 doesn’t restrict sports gambling, the existing compact involving the Seminole Tribe and the State of Florida could impose some limitations.
What is in the Florida gaming streamlined?
The Compact, which was signed in 2010 involving the Seminole Tribe and the country (it had been amended in 2015 to include authorization for extra games), said:
“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 gaming and provides substantial exclusivity of these actions in conjunction with a sensible revenue sharing arrangement between the Tribe and the State that will entitle the State to important earnings participation.”
From the”Covered Games” section of the compact, there is no mention of sports gambling, but there is a statement that would seem to cover sports gambling as within the covered games section:
“Any fresh sport authorized by Florida law for any individual for any purpose, except for banked card games authorized for any other federally recognized tribe pursuant to [the] Indian Gambling Regulatory Act, provided 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 including roulette and craps (which were subsequently allowed) there is no mention of sports gambling, as explicitly excluded.
The streamlined describes seven Seminole-owned casinos that could be expanded or replaced but doesn’t authorize new construction beyond the existing lands. In addition to abiding by state-sanctioned gaming principles, the tribe, in exchange for”partial but substantial exclusivity,” agreed to pay:
$12.5 million each month during the first 24 weeks of the agreement;
After that, 12 percentage of internet wins all sums up to $2 billion;
15 percent on net wins between $2 and $3 billion;
17.5 percent on net wins between $3 billion and $3.5 billion;
As much as 25 percent on all amounts larger than $4.5 billion each revenue sharing cycle.
These payments are due on the 15th of every month for twenty five years from the initiation of this compact.
What about online gambling?
For those expecting for online gambling, there’s a clause in the streamlined that says if the state law is changed to offer online gambling and tribal gaming revenue drops more than five percent from the previous twelve monthsthe tribe gets to substantially reduce their payments to the country under the bonded minimums. However this will not apply if the tribe provides online gambling, subject to state authorization.
In case the Seminole Tribe loses exclusivity, the state of Florida will be looking for a fresh 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 permit (1) the performance of Class III gaming or other casino-style gambling at any location under the jurisdiction of this State that was not in operation as of February 1, 2010, or (2) new forms of Class III gambling or alternative casino-style gaming which weren’t in operation at February 1, 2010.”
Should this occur, the tribe is entitled to cease some of their obligations until such gaming is no longer managed. In the same way, if existing non-tribal facilities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties extend their Class III offerings, the Seminole Tribe can reduce some of their payments to the state also.
So, about sports betting…
It’s not likely that Florida will observe sports gambling being provided by any entity other than the Seminole Tribe.
The gaming compact negotiated between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida is lucrative for the nation and extremely helpful for the tribe. For an summary of how rewarding this compact is for the State of Florida at 2016, the Seminole Tribe paid more than $300 million to the nation. The chance that Florida would endanger a portion of those payments to authorize something that would create as small extra state revenue as sports gambling is incredibly unlikely.
While Florida sports gambling fans should not hold their breath for widespread lawful sports gambling, the Seminole Tribe can, under the streamlined, get the ability to provide it in their seven casinos. Even though the Seminole Tribe has expressed an interest in being able to provide sports betting at its Florida Hard Rock properties, they have been quiet on the issue inside the state of Florida.
Amendment 3 did not foreclose on any hope of sports gambling in Florida. But under the existing gaming compact terms, it would appear to be a costly endeavor for state lawmakers to allow someone other than the Seminole Tribe to provide it entirely, a decision that would surely leave facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties unhappy.
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