The Senate also signed off a bill that will let jai alai frontons, dog tracks and a harness racing track in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to continue to operate slots and card rooms without holding live events.
The bill will now move to the US Secretary of the Interior for approval and ratification, prior to it coming into law and opening up sports betting to the Seminole Tribe.
The compact, which was first announced in April, is set to exclusively permit the tribe to run sports betting in Florida, with permission to partner with the state’s pari-mutuel operators.
“By comprehensively addressing issues raised for almost a decade, this historic legislation restores Florida’s relationship with the Seminole Tribe, offers new opportunities for Florida’s legacy pari-mutuel industry, and provides substantial new revenues for our state,” said Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Trilby), who has been working to negotiate a new compact with the Seminole Tribe for the last several years.
“After years of negotiations and the hard work of many people on both sides, I’m pleased to see this significant legislation pass the Senate today,” Simpson added.
“Not only are we beginning a new 30-year agreement with the Seminole Tribe, but we are also making needed updates to Florida law to better reflect the current gaming climate and combat illegal gambling,” commented Senator Travis Hutson (R-St. Augustine), Chair of the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries.
Source: GMB
