Arguing that digital sports betting “is not a type of game typically found in casinos” and falls outside the Florida constitution’s definition of casino gambling, the state attorney general Friday asked the state Supreme Court to dismiss the case that could determine the future of Florida sports betting.
The plaintiff in the case, West Flagler and Associates, claims that Gov Ron DeSantis and the state legislature went beyond their powers in adopting the 2021 compact with the Florida Seminoles, which extends the tribe’s monopoly on legal gambling to include sports betting as well as casinos.
The court filing by Attorney General Ashley Moody came 37 minutes before an 11:59 p.m. deadline Friday. The 65-page response to West Flagler’s petition listed multiple reasons it should be dismissed: the parimutuels waited more than two years since the compact was approved to file it, the Seminoles are not party to the lawsuit, the kind of relief WFA is seeking isn’t available through what is termed a “quo warranto” filing, and sports betting does not meet the definition of a casino game.
WFA previously wrote to the court that it waited so long to file at the state level because it was pursuing relief through the federal courts. Over the last two-plus years, a federal district court ruled in favor of WFA and a federal appellate court ruled against it. West Flagler is now planning to file with the U.S. Supreme Court, and it was granted an extension Friday until February to file in that court.