Florida Sports Betting SCOTUS Ruling Could Have National Impact

Sports Law attorney Samir Patel was quoted in a Sports Handle article about the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to deny hearing a challenge to the Seminole Tribe's gaming compact with Florida. The compact allows the tribe to process bets that take place outside tribal lands as though they took place in tribal lands. West Flagler Associates argued this setup violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The court's decision to deny certiorari has raised questions about how the ruling could affect a push for sports betting in California, where a 2022 effort to legalize online sports betting through a ballot initiative failed. Mr. Patel commented that tribes could possibly find more success trying to lobby Gov. Gavin Newsom directly instead of going through a ballot initiative. However, he cautioned that the high court's favorable decision for the Seminole Tribe does not guarantee success in other states.

"It's not a slam dunk," he said. "A lot of legal pundits out there, they're conflating what they know of the law with what they don't know of politics. It's not that easy."

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