- The Joe Biden Administration was granted a dismissal of the lawsuit that challenges the Florida gaming compact that was requested last week.
- There is a second lawsuit that is still set to go to trial, but this dismissal is a big win for Governor Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – One of the lawsuits challenging the Florida gaming compact that allows online sports betting in the Sunshine State has been dismissed by a federal judge.
The Joe Biden Administration requested that the case be dismissed, deeming the plaintiffs of having no legitimate case against the Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
This dismissal may ultimately pave the way for online sports betting to go live in Florida as the second lawsuit can be argued against using the result of this dismissal.
Lawsuit In Florida Dismissed
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor ruled in favor of Gov. DeSantis and Julie Brown, the State Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary who reached out to Winsor for the dismissal. The argument presented was that the lawsuit had no legal standing to challenge the compact.
“The pari-mutuels lack standing to sue the governor or the secretary because their actions are not fairly traceable to any alleged harm,” wrote Winsor in the 20-page ruling. “In addition, the requested declaratory and injunctive relief would provide no legal or practical redress to the pari-mutuels’ injuries.”
The ruling focused mainly on the lack of fault that Secretary Brown has in the matter. Judge Winsor declared that the secretary does not have the right to deny the Seminole Tribe from offering online sports gambling in Florida and thusly, did nothing wrong by approving the compact.
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The judge also argued that the pari-mutuels injuries were not directly traceable to the actions of the secretary or Governor DeSantis. Winsor did not find the plaintiffs to successfully show that a ruling in their favor would prevent the harm they’ve alleged.
“They argue that a declaratory judgment would have a cascading effect: a declaration against the state officials that the online sports-betting provisions are illegal would ‘sever’ those provisions from the compact ‘automatically,’ which would then prohibit the tribe from offering online sports betting, which would in turn prevent the pari-mutuels’ impending economic harm,” wrote Winsor.
One More Lawsuit
There is still another lawsuit to worry about before online sportsbooks can launch in Florida. The Seminole Tribe and Gov. DeSantis can utilize this win in their second case, however.
If the lawyers present this ruling to prove that the damages raised by the second lawsuit have no barring, then Florida mobile sports betting may be well underway to go live with no more resistance in November.
After graduating from Florida State University with a degree in creative writing, Giovanni spent his professional career writing short stories for online journals. Now at USAOnlineSportsbooks, you can find him keeping fans up to date on their favorite teams best betting odds. Giovanni still tries to incorporate his passion for storytelling through the perspective of sports betting.
