The Attorney General for Florida has reportedly come out in support of the state’s ill-fated gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida by urging a federal appeals court to overturn a November ruling that blocked the arrangement.

According to a Friday report from local radio broadcaster WFSU-FM, the 30-year deal was the brainchild of the southern state’s Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, and had been set to give the federally-recognized tribe behind the Hard Rock International enterprise a jurisdiction-wide monopoly over online sportsbetting. The arrangement, which received legislative approval in May of 2021, was to have also allowed the Seminole Tribe of Florida to bring roulette and craps to its six area casinos and build up to three more such properties across Broward County.

Disappointing determination:

However, this understanding was reportedly squashed by Judge Dabney Friedrich from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia late last year via a lawsuit against United States Interior Secretary Deb Haaland after a number of plaintiffs managed to successfully argue that it violated the tenets of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and would give the giant tribe an unfair advantage over its commercial rivals. Undeterred and the state purportedly launched an official appeal that is soon to be heard by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Ally’s argument:

Ashley Moody (pictured) has served as the Attorney General for Florida since January of 2019 and she reportedly filed a 32-page friend-of-the-court brief with this federal appeals court on Wednesday arguing that the sportsbetting-friendly deal should be reinstated because it would bring ‘enormous economic benefits’ to her state that could reach as high as $2.5 billion over its first five years. The move from the 47-year-old Republican purportedly moreover comes only a month after the United States Department of the Interior unexpectedly agreed with DeSantis in urging the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to reverse the earlier ruling.

Jurisdictional justification:

Moody reportedly furthermore used her brief to declare that Judge Friedrich’s November determination should be reversed due to its reliance on the incorrect premise that the ‘compact itself authorizes online sportsbetting throughout Florida’. The ally of former President Donald Trump purportedly proclaimed that ‘Florida state law independently authorizes such betting included in the compact’ and that this sits alongside the state’s constitution in not controlling whether Haaland’s ‘deemed approval was lawful’.

Monopoly moves:

WFSU-FM reported that the terms of the compact inked between the state and the Seminole Tribe of Florida were to have allowed sportsbetting aficionados across ‘The Sunshine State’ to place wagers online via the utilization of computer servers located on tribal lands. The source went on to explain that the terms of this mobile-friendly arrangement had additionally sought to give the tribe complete exclusivity over such activities at the expense of other bands and commercial enterprises.

Reportedly read a section of Moody’s brief…

“The 2021 compact provides enormous economic benefits to both the state of Florida and the tribe and that compact is lawful.”