The lone sports betting app in Florida is Hard Rock Bet Florida. Retail sports betting is live in Florida at Seminole Hard Rock Casino Hollywood, Seminole Classic Casino Hollywood, Seminole Hard Rock Casino Tampa, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, Seminole Casino Immokalee, and Seminole Casino Brighton.
Where Florida Stands On Legal Sports Betting
Many people ask is sports betting legal in Florida? We will answer that question as well as many of Florida sports betting FAQs on this Florida sports betting page. The answer is that sports betting in Florida is now legal and live as the cases have made their way through court.
In May 2021, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact, making sports betting legal in Florida. The gaming compact gave the Seminole Tribe the ability to be the lone online sportsbook operator in the state, while the Florida Gaming Control Commission would oversee and regulate all legal sports betting in Florida. This was the final step to legalize Florida sports betting.
After sports betting in Florida went live in November 2021, the Hard Rock Sportsbook app was forced to be taken down after a D.C. District Court judge ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by West Flagler Associates. Now, Hard Rock Bet Florida has cleared all hurdles and is live. If you don't have a Hard Rock Bet sportsbook account, be sure to click the "BET NOW" button below to get the best sports betting app Florida bettors have access to.
The Regulatory Framework Of The Florida Sports Betting Market
The regulatory framework of the Florida sports betting market can be traced back to 2018, when the Seminole Tribe of Florida supported Amendment 3, which prohibited the Florida legislature from authorizing new casino gambling without support from the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
In 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis declined to sign a deal that would have allowed Florida tribal casinos and other pari-mutuel companies, like West Flagler Associates, to offer legal sports betting in Florida, with West Flagler and other pari-mutuels paying a percentage of the revenue earned to the Seminole Tribe.
Then, in 2020, legislation was passed in the House Gaming Control Subcommittee to prevent the Florida Lottery from offering legal sports betting, resulting in the Seminole Tribe of Florida gaining the upper-hand by being the default host for Florida retail and online sports betting throughout the state.
In May 2021, the State of Florida signed a 30-year deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which gave the Tribe the ability to offer sports betting, both in-person and online, along with craps and roulette, in exchange for at least $2.5 billion over the first five years of the pact. The U.S. Department of Interior, which oversees tribal lands, signed off on the agreement as well.
This snowballed into the years-long legal battle surrounding the May 2021 Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact, as many saw it as a conflict of interest for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which owns and operates Hard Rock Bet, being given the authority to regulate Florida sports betting.
Florida Sports Betting Timeline
Here's a rundown of how we got to the relaunch of retail and mobile sports betting:
- December 2023: Retail sports betting launched at six Florida casinos -- Seminole Hard Rock Casino Hollywood, Seminole Classic Casino Hollywood, Seminole Hard Rock Casino Tampa, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, Seminole Casino Immokalee, and Seminole Casino Brighton. The Seminole Tribe of Florida will also offer craps and roulette. It later cleared all legal hurdles and launched online, too.
- November 7, 2023: Mobile sports betting relaunches in Florida on the Hard Rock Bet app. Eligibility to place wagers at this time is limited to individuals who were part of Hard Rock's loyalty programs and held accounts with the sportsbook in Florida between Nov. 1 and Nov. 21, 2021.
- November 2023: Online sports betting in Florida will relaunch via the Hard Rock Bet app and online sportsbook site.
- October 25, 2023: The U.S. Supreme Court voted to allow the Seminole Tribe of Florida to offer online sports betting on mobile devices throughout the state. Florida sports betting will officially go live again in the coming months.
- October 12, 2023: U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay on legal Florida sports betting, while the U.S. Department of the Interior sorts out the best path forward, following a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to uphold the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact, originally signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis back in May 2021.
- October 6, 2023: West Flagler Associates and other pari-mutuel companies file a request for a stay to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- October 2, 2023: D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denies West Flagler Associates' motion to stay the court's mandate upholding the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact.
- September 28, 2023: A U.S. District Court of Appeals made a ruling to permit the Seminole Tribe to launch the Hard Rock Bet Florida app and online sports betting site.
- September 26, 2023: The U.S. Department of the Interior files a response that opposed West Flagler Associates' motion to stay legal Florida sports betting. West Flagler Associates then files a state constitutional challenge in the Florida Supreme Court against Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature to invalidate the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact signed in May 2021.
- September 19, 2023: Magic City Casino and Bonita Springs Poker Room request the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case to generate a new ruling about legal Florida sports betting.
- September 18, 2023: West Flagler Associates files a motion in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to keep Hard Rock Bet Florida offline, while also issuing a formal appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- September 11, 2023: D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denies West Flagler Associates' initial lawsuit, filed in July 2021, that stated that the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact violates the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
- June 2023: D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstates the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact, allowing Florida state courts to resume discussions surrounding sports betting in Florida.
- November 2021: Hard Rock Sportsbook Florida briefly launches its mobile betting app and site for Florida sports bettors. Then, a federal judge in a D.C. District Court rules in favor of West Flagler Associates' lawsuit, supporting the claim that the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact violates the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
- October 2021: A district judge in Florida dismisses West Flagler Associates' lawsuit seeking to overturn the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact.
- July 2021: West Flagler Associates files a lawsuit stating that the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
- May 2021: The Seminole Tribe of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis sign off on the Florida-Seminole Gaming Compact, providing the Seminole Tribe of Florida with complete authority to be the only online and retail sports betting oprator in the state. This includes online and mobile sports betting outside of tribal land. The House voted 97-17 to pass the bill after the Senate voted 39-1 to approve it.
- December 2020: Seminole Gaming partners with Hard Rock International and launches Hard Rock Digital to provide online gaming to bettors throughout the U.S.
- March 2020: SB 968 and SB 970 are two sports betting bills that fail to gain support within the Florida Legislature.
- May 2019: A vote that prohibited the Florida Legislature from passing new sports betting laws without gaining approval from the Seminole Tribe turns into a dispute over Florida gaming rights. The Florida Gaming Control Commission, a five-member regulatory body that is responsible for overseeing the regulations with respect to gambling, including pari-mutuel wagering, card rooms, slot machine facilities, and the compact between the State of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, but excluding the state lottery.
- 2018: The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) gets overturned, allowing states to legalize sports betting through their own legislatures by removing the federal ban.
Now that you know how we got here, click on the "BET NOW" button below, once legal sports betting in Florida goes live, to sign up at Hard Rock Bet Florida.