West Flagler and Associates, the Florida parimutuels contesting the Seminole Tribe’s monopoly on sports betting in the state, filed an urgent request in state Supreme Court Tuesday night to have it shutter the Hard Rock Bet sports betting platform.
The request was filed on the same day that the Seminoles launched their site for limited use in Florida.
The filing isn’t a surprise: In an Oct. 20 filing, WFA wrote that while it had not yet asked for a stay from the Florida Supreme Court, it reserved the right to. The U.S. Supreme Court in September denied a WFA request to keep the Seminoles offline.
The tribe went live Tuesday morning with its Hard Rock Bet sports betting platform despite two pending court cases. The soft launch allows immediate access by those who used the tribe’s platform during a brief go-live period in November-December 2021 and those who are Hard Rock rewards members. The Seminoles released no information ahead of the launch, and they have not shared when the platform might be available for general use.