Ahead of the start of Florida’s legislative session, a pair of bills are looking to enforce stricter punishments for illegal gambling in the Sunshine State and, in doing so, reiterate the Seminole Tribe’s exclusive position.
Rep. Webster Barnaby’s House Bill 953 and Sen. Corey Simon’s Senate Bill 1404 would make it a third-degree felony for anyone other than the Seminole Tribe to operate an online casino or online sportsbook in Florida. In Florida, that level of crime is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Anyone found guilty of using an online casino or online sportsbook not owned by the tribe would be charged with a first or second-degree misdemeanor.
The Seminole Tribe holds online gambling exclusivity in the state and has operated online sports betting via Hard Rock Bet since December 2023. It has successfully defended in court its right to offer the sole online sports betting platforms via a compact with the state.
Ostensibly, the new pair of bills would seem to reiterate that it would be the Seminole Tribe alone who could offer online casino gaming if iGaming ever gets legalized in the state down the line.
Do the bills call out sweepstakes?
While they don’t mention sweepstakes casino gaming by name, the bills’ language notably includes in the definitions of both internet gambling and internet sports wagering the phrase “money or other thing of value.”
That could include the kind of dual-currency play utilized by sweepstakes and social casinos, where the sweeps currency can be cashed out for real money.
The internet gaming definition also calls out a gaming product that “simulates casino-style gaming,” something that sweeps have been accused of by online casino and betting operators and regulators in some jurisdictions.
Sweepstakes are also directly under fire in other states’ legislative sessions. Lawmakers in Connecticut, Maryland and Mississippi have all introduced bills this year to ban the vertical, and the Mississippi proposal has gained full approval in the Senate.
Florida gets tough with bad actors
The Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) appears to be following other states in getting tougher on unapproved sites.
The FGCC sent cease-and-desist letters to the parent companies of BetUS, Bovada and MyBookie.ag in recent weeks, noting that those offshore platforms offer some combination of sports betting, online casino games or skill games. Those three companies, all operated out of the Caribbean, have all been targeted by C&Ds from other state regulators.
The companion bills would give the FGCC further oversight to chase illegal operators, including enforcing stricter punishments for making “misleading” statements that position unapproved gambling as legal.
A similar bill in Florida, Rep. Vicki Lopez’s H1017, was also filed this week and also places an emphasis on the criminality of non-Seminole gaming.
