A U.S. District Court of Appeals ruling Thursday appears to have opened a pathway for the Seminole Tribe in Florida to launch its Hard Rock Bet platform in the state soon if it wants, but at least two legal analysts say that’s unlikely.
The appellate court in the District of Columbia Circuit denied a request from plaintiffs for a stay that would prevent any chance for now of the platform becoming operational. The Seminoles themselves called the decision a “positive development” but went on to say “it will have no immediate effect on the Seminole Tribe's plans.” What those plans are remain a mystery to everyone but the tribe.
With two potential legal actions still pending — West Flagler and Associates has made known its plans to file an appeal on the federal level with the U.S. Supreme Court, and on Tuesday it filed against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in state Supreme Court — launching Hard Rock Bet anytime soon could be tricky.
“It depends on how risk averse the tribe is, and it appears based on recent history that the reward of a few extra weeks of offering gambling to consumers isn’t worth it,” Florida-based attorney Darren Heitner of Heitner Legal told via email. “The tribe already went down that road of allowing action on a temporary basis and was likely quite frustrated in being required to shut it down after a test run. I don’t think it makes sense to jump the gun here, particularly because West Flagler is very quickly running out of stall tactics.”