Wednesday morning, Florida’s Seminole Tribe made an announcement that spawned rampant speculation. The tribe will begin offering craps, roulette, and sports wagering at its brick-and-mortar locations in Florida in a staggered start beginning Dec. 7.
That news, in and of itself, is big for a state where the fate of legal sports betting has been murky since a federal lawsuit was filed in August 2021 after the tribe’s compact to offer Florida sports betting became operational.
But within minutes of the news came the prognosticators discussing mobile betting. In particular, Andy Slater of FoxSports 640 tweeted that mobile wagering would begin in Florida within two to three weeks, which would be ahead of the brick-and-mortar launch.
But some in the industry say there is not only no reason for the Seminoles to launch digital that soon, there are also pitfalls and, potentially, administrative or technological reasons that it can’t or won’t happen. Hard Rock Bet is already available in Arizona, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia.