A gaming compact between Florida and the Seminole Tribe allows Hard Rock Bet to deliver a new online sports betting product powered by historical NASCAR races.
Hard Rock Bet is soft-launching Games, a slot-style online sports betting product that allows users to compete against the house using data from historical NASCAR races.
Games delivers slot-style games that operate in a similar manner to historical horse racing, an electronic wagering system that uses past horse races to generate outcomes in lieu of a random number generator.
Florida gaming compact creates pathway for new offering
Hard Rock is delivering the new offering exclusively to players in Florida under a gaming compact that allows the state’s exclusive online gambling operator to offer wagering tied to historical sporting events, a Hard Rock Bet spokesperson confirmed to SBC Americas.
Games provides users with a slot-style gaming experience despite the Sunshine State not being one of America’s seven regulated online casino markets. The offering currently houses 21 titles that all use data from past NASCAR races to generate results. Games’ titles have a $1 minimum bet limit, mirroring house rules for Hard Rock’s sportsbook.
The collection of titles available through Games does not provide the names of races, drivers or dates of the events. Hard Rock is providing access to Games to a select group of users in Florida. It plans to continue the launch of Games statewide on a roll-out basis.
Nixed compact provision drives new product launch
Hard Rock is delivering a slot-style product with iGaming not legalized in Florida despite a failed attempt to consider expanding the state’s gaming market through a gaming compact.
The 2021 gaming compact that allows Hard Rock to offer a historical NASCAR racing product previously included a provision that would have allowed for consideration of online casinos. The provision mandated that Florida “engage in good faith negotiations” with the Seminole Tribe about expanding the state’s gaming market three years after its signature.
Lawmakers removed the provision to consider gaming expansion before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe reached an agreement on the gaming compact.
The provision was removed after conservative lawmakers voiced their opposition.
Hard Rock’s online casino operations
Currently, Hard Rock only offers online casinos in New Jersey. The operator is planning to launch iGaming operations in Michigan, becoming the state’s 14th online casino brand.
Hard Rock is entering Michigan’s online casino market after acquiring the U.S. assets of 888 Holdings last year. 888 Holdings previously operated SI Sportsbook and Casino.
888 shuttered the brand after parting ways with Sports Illustrated owner Authentic Brands Group. 888 agreed to pay an initial $25 million termination fee and another $25 million by 2029 to shutter SI Sportsbook and Casino after its launch in four states.
