A Sports Betting Breakthrough in Florida?

Just when the experts thought the notion of sports betting and online casino gambling were dead in Florida, someone comes up with a brilliant legislative idea. How about writing legislation that directly addresses the issues that are keeping Florida residents from being able to bet on sports.

Thank you House Republican Chip LaMarca and Democratic Rep. Anika Omphroy. Through their combined efforts, there were able to recently file three pieces of legislation (HB 1317, HB 1321, and HB1319) that could open the door to sports betting in the state.

It's worth noting that the apparent motivation behind this latest push to legalize sports betting just happens to coincide with the fact the state is starting to see a budget shortfall coming in the next couple of years. As more than 20 states have already learned, the potential for tax revenue from sports betting and online casino gambling to solve budget problems is very real.

The one part of this legislation that gives these bills a collective chance this time is the inclusion of the Seminole Indian Tribe. In the state of Florida, the tribe has control over all of the casino gambling rights. While sports betting might be a bit of an outliner, no one wanted to take it to court to find out. Instead, they allowed prior legislative attempts to initiate sports gambling to fall flat.

As part of this new legislation, the Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation would have regulatory responsibility for sports gambling. In the bill, pricing was laid out with licensing fees to be charged at a one-time rate of $7.5 million. Also, the state's tax rate would be set at a whopping 22.5%, which is more than double what most other states are collecting.

Based on the language found in HB1317, licenses would be available for pari-mutuel wagering venues (race tracks, Jai Lai), sports venues like football, basketball, and baseball stadiums, and to existing tribal organizations casino property. With the inclusion of the Seminole Tribe and the horse racing industry, a lot of the prior objections were removed.

According to Seminole Gaming chairman Jim Allen in an interview with CDC Gaming Reports:

“We feel the state may be interested in working with us to reinstitute our revenue share and if that is the mindset of the state, we’re happy to sit down and discuss it. We’ve always had a good relationship (with Florida) in my 20 years.”