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Florida voters simply made it more challenging to alter its laws concerning gaming. What exactly does that mean for the future of sports gambling from the nation?
Florida and Amendment 3
On Friday evening, since most of the country was watching to see if there was going to be an ideological shift in Congress, many in the gambling industry were watching another race in Florida.
This race didn’t entail the election of a person; the race was for Florida Amendment 3, a ballot measure that would shift the power from legislators to voters to authorize brand new casino gambling in the state.
The language of this step has been as follows:
“This amendment ensures that Florida voters will have the exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gaming by requiring that in order for casino gaming to be authorized under Florida law, it has to be approved by Florida voters pursuant to Article XI, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution. Affects articles X and XI. Defines casino gambling and clarifies that this amendment doesn’t conflict with federal legislation concerning state/tribal compacts.”
Where did the gambling amendment come from?
Only two counties in Florida allow for”card games, casino games, casino games, and slot machines” at non-tribal owned facilities.
In 2004, ahead of the current tribal compacts, under the opinion of then-Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida voters in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties passed a ballot initiative that enabled for slot machines in racing and jai-alai centers, which had operated in the 2 decades prior.
The amendment effectively means that in order for the nation to expand casino gaming beyond the tribal casinos and existing racing and pari-mutuel centers, voters in Florida would need to initiate the process by collecting enough signatures to get the petition added into a ballot.
“In Florida, the amount of signatures necessary to get an initiative is equivalent to 8% of those votes cast in the previous presidential elections. Florida also has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures equal to 8% of their district-wide vote at at least half (14) of the state’s 27 congressional districts have to be collected.”
For reference, the 2016 Presidential election had 9,419,886 votes cast. Eight percent of this vote total is 753,591 signatures required to be able to get a casino expansion step on a future ballot. This is a daunting task, without considering the need for geographic distribution, which is demanded.
There are, however, a couple of Florida-based groups that might have the ability to back a campaign of sufficient size to gather these votes at a time in the future. Two which come into mind are Disney and the Seminole Tribe. Indeed, the two Disney and the Seminoles were major backers for departure Amendment 3, allegedly putting in tens of millions of dollars to support the measure’s passage.
The resistance saw assistance from smaller gambling suppliers including West Flagler Associates and Hialeah Park, in addition to the Miami Dolphins, who (in)famously tweeted an image that indicated the passage of Amendment 3″would effectively block any chance for lawful sports gambling in Florida.”
If the language of Amendment 3 seems complicated, that is because it is. The language employed in the Amendment scored a grade-level rank of 24 (the equivalent of having 24 decades of formal education or enough time to make a Ph.D.) according to Ballotpedia, which positions the readability of ballot measures. Amendment 3 was worded more complexly than many others, with the typical ballot scoring between 19-20.
It does not require a Ph.D. to realize that the Amendment doesn’t mention sports. So, does that imply that Florida can start sports betting shortly?
Not really.
What is’casino gambling’?
In accordance with Ballotpedia, Amendment 3 defines casino gaming as card games, casino games and slot machines. There’s no mention of sports gambling. So, while it may appear that Amendment 3 leaves open the question of whether Florida can provide sports gambling, it neglects the far bigger issue, that the State of Florida includes a Class III gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe.
Sports betting is Class III gambling according to this Federal Register:
Class III gaming means all forms of gaming that are not class I gaming or class II gaming, including but not Limited to:
(a) Any home banking game, including but not Limited to —
(1) Card games such as baccarat, chemin de fer, blackjack (21), and pai gow (if played as house banking matches );
(2) Casino games like craps, blackjack, and keno;
(b) Any slot machines as described in 15 U.S.C. 1171(a)(1) and electronic or electromechanical facsimiles of any game of chance;
(c) Any sports gambling and parimutuel wagering such as but not limited to wagering on horse racing, dog racing or jai alai; or
(d) Lotteries.
While Amendment 3 doesn’t limit sports betting, the existing compact involving the Seminole Tribe and the State of Florida could impose a few restrictions.
What’s in the Florida gaming streamlined?
The Compact, which was signed in 2010 involving the Seminole Tribe and the country (it was amended in 2015 to add authorization for additional games), stated:
“It is in the best interests of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida for the State to enter into a compact with the Tribe that recognizes the Tribe’s right to offer certain Class III gambling and provides substantial exclusivity of such actions in conjunction with a sensible revenue sharing agreement between the Tribe and the State that will entitle the State to significant revenue participation.”
In the”Covered Games” part of this compact, there is no mention of sports gambling, but there is a statement that might seem to cover sports betting as inside the coated games segment:
“Any fresh sport authorized by Florida law for any person for any use, except for banked card games approved for any other federally recognized tribe pursuant to [the] Indian Gambling Regulatory Act, provided that the tribe has land in federal trust in the State as of February 1, 2010.”
The tribe and the state agreed that the”Tribe is authorized to operate Covered Games on Indian Lands….” While Section IV of the compact excludes numerous games including blackjack and roulette (that were subsequently allowed) there is no mention of sports betting, as explicitly excluded.
The streamlined describes seven Seminole-owned casinos which can be expanded or replaced but does not authorize new construction beyond the present lands. In addition to abiding by state-sanctioned gaming principles, the tribe, in trade for”tight but substantial exclusivity,” agreed to cover:
$12.5 million per month during the first 24 weeks of the arrangement;
After that, 12 percent of internet wins all amounts up to $2 billion;
15 percent on net wins between $2 and $3 billion;
17.5 percent on net wins between $3 billion and $3.5 billion;
As much as 25 percent on all amounts greater than $4.5 billion per earnings sharing cycle.
These obligations are due on the 15th of each month for twenty five years from the initiation of this compact.
What about online gambling?
For those expecting for internet gambling, there is a clause in the streamlined that says if the state law has been changed to provide online gaming and tribal gaming revenue drops more than five percent from the past twelve monthsthe tribe has to considerably reduce their payments to the state under the bonded minimums. However this will not apply if the tribe provides online gambling, subject to express authorization.
In case the Seminole Tribe loses exclusivity, the state of Florida will be in search of a new source of revenue. Part XII Section A. of the Compact states:
“If, after February 1, 2010, Florida legislation is amended by action of the Florida Legislature or an amendment to the Florida Constitution to allow (1) the performance of Class III gambling or other casino-style gambling at any place under the jurisdiction of the State that wasn’t in operation as of February 1, 2010, or (2) new forms of Class III gambling or other casino-style gaming that were not in operation at February 1, 2010.”
If this occur, the tribe is entitled to stop some of their obligations until such gaming is no longer managed. Similarly, if present non-tribal facilities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties extend their Class III offerings, the Seminole Tribe can reduce some of their obligations to the country as well.
So, about sports gambling…
It’s unlikely that Florida will observe sports gambling being provided by any entity other than the Seminole Tribe.
The gaming compact negotiated between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida is rewarding for the state and extremely helpful for the tribe. For an summary of how lucrative this compact is for the State of Florida in 2016, the Seminole Tribe paid over $300 million into the state. The likelihood that Florida would endanger a portion of those payments to authorize something that would generate as little extra state revenue as sports gambling is extremely unlikely.
While Florida sports betting fans shouldn’t hold their breath for widespread legal sports gambling, the Seminole Tribe could, under the streamlined, get the capability to offer it in their casinos. Even though the Seminole Tribe has previously expressed an interest in being able to provide sports betting at its Florida Hard Rock properties, they’ve recently been quiet on the matter within the state of Florida.
Amendment 3 did not foreclose on any hope of sports betting in Florida. But under the present gaming compact terms, it would appear to be a costly endeavor for state lawmakers to permit someone aside from the Seminole Tribe to provide it entirely, a decision that would surely leave facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties unhappy.

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