In Florida, offering gambling without a license or participating in unlicensed gambling could soon have more dire consequences. Two bills proposing tougher sentences for convictions on violations of certain gambling-related statutes moved closer to becoming law on Thursday.
One of the bills escalates consequences for existing violations and makes attempting to fix sporting events for betting purposes a felony. Another enshrines a narrow definition of legal gambling in Florida, requiring all such gaming to occur under the control of or via partnership with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
If either bill becomes law, it could give prosecutors in Florida more leverage to pursue unlicensed gambling operations. That could affect the future of potential online casino gaming in the state.
Bills advance in Florida legislature
On Thursday, the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government voted unanimously to advance SB104 while the Florida House of Representatives Commerce Committee reported HB 1467 favorably. HB 1467 could come up for a vote in the Florida House soon.
HB 1467 began as a measure to prohibit former employees of the Florida Gaming Commission (FGC) from taking employment with gaming companies for two years following their separation from the FGC. The bill also establishes third-degree felony charges for anyone who is convicted of attempting to fix sporting events for gambling purposes by bribing or attempting to bribe athletes.
Committee substitutes have added language that escalates penalties for accepting wagers on games without a license in Florida. Such violations would be a third-degree felony as well while people working for such enterprises face potential felony charges as well for repeat offenses.
SB 1404 (along with its House companion clarifies that the only legal gambling in Florida happens under the purview of the Seminole Tribe. It also criminalizes wagering on a sporting event with insider information and impersonating FGC personnel.
These bills could incentivize the FGC to make more referrals to prosecutors in the state regarding illegal gambling operations. Enforcement actions could ramp up when the Seminole Tribe makes its anticipated move toward iGaming.
Potential changes in Florida’s online casino landscape
The Seminole Tribe of Florida has a state-sanctioned monopoly in of legal online sports betting and could extend that to encom iGaming as well. Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen has made it clear that the Tribe intends to do so when it feels the time is right.
New laws further enshrining the exclusivity of the Tribe’s control over legal gaming in Florida might act as catalysts to hasten that process. Statutes like those that HB 1467 and SB 1404 suggest might give Seminole Gaming more confidence that an investment in ramping up its Hard Rock Bet iGaming platform in Florida will be merited by significant returns.
Although the legal situation is complicated because of federal laws, HB 1467 and SB 1404 could be equally negative developments for the operators of websites offering paid sweepstakes-based casino-style games. More statutes explicitly dictating that such games can only be legal if offered by the Tribe or a partner might result in prosecutors assessing their options to move against the operators of these websites.
Neither bill specifically targets sweepstakes-based casino-style online games in its language. If either becomes law and prosecutors attempt to use it to pursue charges, courts would have to decide whether the statute(s) would apply. Such litigation is likely to involve federal courts due to the fact that the United States Code contains regulations for sweepstakes games.
For those reasons, HB 1467 and SB 1404 are likely on the radars of many stakeholders as they continue to advance in Tallahassee. At the very least, they would make illegal gambling a riskier proposition in the state.
