Lawyers for Miami-based parimutuel West Flagler and Associates late Friday filed a “motion to stay mandate” in federal court pending its plans to file an appeal in its case against the U.S. Department of the Interior to the U.S. Supreme Court. The motion to stay would prevent the Seminole Tribe from launching its Hard Rock Bet wagering platform in Florida next week. The motion was added to the court docket at 10:04 p.m. ET.
The request is the latest in a court case that was filed just short of two years ago and seeks to ultimately have the compact between the tribe and the state deemed invalid. The compact would allow the Seminoles to have a monopoly on retail and digital sports betting in the third-largest state in the nation, but it has been under fire since lawmakers approved it during a special session in May 2021.
Though the Seminoles have declined to comment on their plans to launch, the buzz throughout the industry this past week has been that the tribe would relaunch its platform at the first opportunity.'The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Sept. 11 declined West Flagler’s request for an en banc hearing after overturning a lower-court ruling on June 30. The Sept. 11 denial started a seven-day clock before the mandate becomes effective, meaning that that the first available date to launch would be Tuesday.
In Friday’s filing, West Flagler attorneys called the June 30 ruling “unprecedented” and an “extreme shift in public policy on legalizing gaming” and went on to argue that without a stay, “the Tribe shortly will effect a major expansion of gaming in Florida by releasing a mobile phone application that will permit online sports betting throughout the state.”