Is Online Sports Betting Legal in Florida?
No.
Florida sports betting is not legal.
Aside from betting on horse racing, there are no legal sportsbook websites that accept bets from anyone within the state of Florida.
Florida enforces a strict ban on both in-person and online sports betting due to a lack of constitutional support for it. Consequently, operating legal sportsbooks in the state are prohibited. However, various attempts by lawmakers to legalize sports betting have been unsuccessful.
Following the federal ban called PASPA’s overturn in 2018 by the United States Supreme Court, several states had the opportunity to legalize and regulate sports betting at their discretion, except Florida. Florida sports betting is still at a standstill. This is partially due to ongoing legal proceedings that paused all sports betting shortly after it launched in November 2021.
Mobile sports betting was successfully launched through a compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe. However, the Tribe later claimed that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act had been violated. Both sides of the issue argued their stances in court in December 2022. Nevertheless, we won’t get an idea of when a ruling will be handed down until the 2023 legislative session finalizes. There are millions of dollars bet on sports events every year in Florida through offshore books. Nevertheless, these bookmakers are unregulated and operate in legal grey areas.
Though there may be various hurdles to legalizing sports betting legislation in Florida, for example, amending the state constitution with a 60% majority vote to legalize sports betting requires lawmaking, and legislators must agree to create regulations on operators and revenue sharing per game. Moreover, Florida needs to cooperate with sports organizations to maintain fairness during games, complicating the process further.
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