Florida: Federal government will appeal Florida Gaming Compact ruling

Florida: Federal government will appeal Florida Gaming Compact ruling

Article brief provided by Florida Politics
  • Scott Powers, Florida Politics
January 20, 2022 7:51 PM
  • Scott Powers, Florida Politics

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has notified a federal court that she and the Department of Interior intend to appeal the November court decision that struck down internet sports betting and Florida’s 2022 Gaming Compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

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Haaland filed her notice to appeal the decision Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The actual appeal is set to be filed by Saturday with the U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

The federal government’s argument would have to convince the Appeals Court that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act gives the Department of Interior authority to approve Florida’s Gaming Compact at a federal level in August, even if the Compact allows bets to be placed outside tribal lands.

The notice itself does not reveal what arguments Haaland and the federal government might be preparing to make.