A Florida circuit court judge on Halloween afternoon wrote that a group calling itself Protect the Constitution LLC lacks standing and dismissed its effort to try to stop the Florida Seminoles from offering statewide digital sports betting.
Judge Christopher John Baum of the Florida Second Circuit, Leon County, wrote that because Protect the Constitution did not reveal names of any members or any “product” it is offering, the entity failed to “demonstrate standing” and cannot sue the Florida Gaming Commission.
In dismissing the complaint, Baum also dismissed the Seminoles’ motion for limited intervention and their motion to dismiss. Baum dismissed the case without prejudice and set a Nov. 21 deadline should Protect the Constitution opt to reveal its members and products and refile.
The decision is the latest in a series of lawsuits that have attempted and failed to shutter Hard Rock Bet, owned by the Seminoles. Under the tribe’s 2021 compact with the state of Florida and a law passed in 2021, the Seminoles have exclusivity for digital sports betting throughout the state because the compact includes language deeming bets to be considered placed where received.
Every online sports bet placed in Florida flows through a server on Seminole land, and the tribe is the only one in the U.S. that has complete exclusivity for sports betting. The compact also lays the foundation for the tribe to exclusively offer online casino eventually.
The first lawsuit was filed in 2021 in U.S. district court in Washington, D.C. At that time, a judge sided with the plaintiff, West Flagler and Associates (WFA), and the Seminoles were forced to pull down their site. But an appeals court reversed the decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately declined to hear the case, which effectively made the compact law and the Seminoles’ offering of statewide digital betting legal.
Tangled pathway
Throughout the process, federal judges suggested that WFA had filed in the wrong venue and that the matter — whether or not the compact is legal and if the legislature cut out voters — was a state issue. In 2018, Florida voters approved Amendment 3, now Florida Statute Article X, Section 30 of the Florida Constitution, which requires any expansion of gaming to go to the voters. The state legislature in a special session in May 2021 approved the Seminole compact, and the tribe is now paying the state $500 million per year in revenue share.
WFA went on to sue Florida in state court, bypassing lower courts and going directly to the Florida Supreme Court. That court dismissed the case, in part due to procedure, and WFA eventually stood down. It now has a partnership with the Seminoles to offer betting on jai alai, which it offers at its parimutuel locations.
In the Oct. 31 dismissal, Baum wrote that in addition to keeping its member identities secret, Protect the Constitution doesn’t explain how any member of its group “experienced ‘reduced revenue’ or other harm as a result of the statute.” The group also failed to “describe any business or business method” of its members or how business is being conducted.
“The complaint does not identify any particular activity of [Protect The Constitution] other than pursuing an instant lawsuit,” Baum wrote.
Baum wrote that while failing to show standing “requires dismissal,” Protect the Constitution also filed an argument rather than laying out the facts in the complaint, which itself is a reason for dismissal.
