Credit: Kaspars Grinvalds/stock.adobe.com 2 Pari-Mutuels Seek More Time in Seminole Sports Betting Fight
Lawyers for West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. asked Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. to extend a deadline for filing a petition and said the U.S. Supreme Court case could be affected by a separate sports-betting challenge filed at the Florida Supreme Court.
November 22, 2023 at 02:22 PM
4 minute read
Cases and Courts
As they wage a two-front fight against the Seminole Tribe offering online sports betting statewide, two pari-mutuel companies are seeking more time to make their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lawyers for West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. on Monday asked Chief Justice John Roberts to extend a deadline for filing a petition and said the U.S. Supreme Court case could be affected by a separate sports-betting challenge filed at the Florida Supreme Court.
The two cases involve different legal issues and different defendants, but the pari-mutuel companies are trying to use at least one of the challenges to block sports betting that was included in a 2021 gambling deal between the state and the tribe.
West Flagler and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. want the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case filed against the U.S. Department of the Interior over whether the sports-betting part of the deal violates a federal law known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, or IGRA, because it authorizes gambling off tribal lands.
The Department of the Interior, which oversees Indian gaming, allowed the gambling deal, known as a compact, to move forward. A panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia backed the department in June.
Meanwhile, the companies have filed a case at the Florida Supreme Court contending that allowing the tribe to offer online sports betting statewide violates a 2018 state constitutional amendment that required voter approval of casino gambling.
In the request Monday to Roberts, lawyers for West Flagler and Bonita Fort-Myers Corp. sought to push back a deadline from Dec. 11 to Feb. 9 for filing a petition, at least in part because of the Florida Supreme Court case.
"If the Florida Supreme Court rules in applicant's (the pari-mutuel companies') favor in connection with the state petition, such ruling will impact the scope of applicants' petition for a writ of certiorari (the petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case)," the request said.
The request also said that "if the Florida Supreme Court denies or fails to rule in applicant's favor, the important statutory and constitutional issues raised by the circuit opinion [the federal appeals court's opinion] would certainly remain."
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 25 rejected a request by the pari-mutuel companies to issue a stay of the appeals-court ruling while they prepared a petition. After that decision, the tribe announced Nov. 1 that it would begin allowing sports betting at its casinos in December. It went further Nov. 7 by saying it would also take online sports bets from a limited group of gamblers.
The Florida Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request by the pari-mutuel companies to "immediately suspend the sports betting provisions" of a law that carried out the gambling deal. That decision, however, did not resolve the underlying legal issues in the state-court case, which names as defendants Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative leaders.
The deal, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. and ratified by the Legislature, allowed the Seminoles to add craps and roulette to their Florida casinos and add three casinos on tribal property in Broward County. In exchange, the tribe agreed to pay the state at least $2.5 billion over the first five years and possibly billions of dollars more over the course of the pact.
But the key to the legal battles is part of the deal that allows gamblers to place mobile sports wagers anywhere in the state, with bets handled by computer servers on tribal property. The deal said bets "using a mobile app or other electronic device, shall be deemed to be exclusively conducted by the tribe."
The pari-mutuel companies, who say they will be harmed financially by the tribe being able to offer online sports betting, contend that the deal was structured to get around the 2018 constitutional amendment requiring voter approval of casino gambling — an argument they included in Monday's request to Roberts.
West Flagler holds three jai alai licenses, while Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. does business as Bonita Springs Poker Room in Southwest Florida.
Jim Saunders reports for the News Service of Florida.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Divided State Court Reinstates Dispute Over Replacement Vehicles Fees
5 minute read
Second Circuit Ruling Expands VPPA Scope: What Organizations Need to Know
6 minute read
'They Got All Bent Out of Shape:' Parkland Lawyers Clash With Each Other
Courts of Appeal Conflicted Over Rule 1.442(c)(3) When Claims for Damages Involve a Husband and Wife
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
