Sports betting in Florida: Has its time come or run out for this legislative session?

Has time run out for a gambling deal this session? For weeks, negotiators for the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis worked on an agreement for a gaming compact. Then, late Monday, the governor made what was likely a final offer: Florida would become the largest state in the nation to legalize sports betting, and the Tribe would control it. The Tribe would not stand in the way if legislators were to allow Miami Beach to become home to a controversial new casino. And the Seminole Tribe would give the state hundreds of millions of dollars in annual payments.

Graham argues to court that state Constitution requires statewide referendum to approve slots anywhere

As a member of the state House when Florida rewrote its constitution in 1968, former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Bob Graham believes a lot of people are missing the point in the current gaming debate. Graham filed a friend of the court brief on Monday in the case involving Gretna Racing LLC, arguing that the Legislature, Gov. Rick Scott's administration and the company that is trying to get a slots permit in the rural community, have misread the Florida Constitution. His argument: there is no authority

Under Scott Gaming Has Grown Quietly in Florida

Days after a judge ruled last month that the barrel races held at a fledgling North Florida racino were not a legitimate parimutuel sport, state regulators crafted a license, the first of its kind, to allow ” flag-drop” races to replace them. In the past two years, the same regulators have allowed slot machine operators to run electronic roulette and craps games in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, allowed a dormant jai alai permit to be used to expand the number of slot machines at Magic City Casino, and allowed Tampa Bay Downs and Gulfstream racetrack in Hallandale Beach to run a one-time race in June so they could offer thoroughbred races via simulcast year-round.

A hard sell for Florida casinos: A determined developer promises 100,000 new jobs, but some aren't buying in

It is a lazy, rainy day in Tallahassee and Colin Au, the president of Genting Americas, has arrived in town on a mission - to meet with every one of the state's 160 legislators to explain why Miami needs a "destination resort" with one of the world's biggest casinos. As the top U.S. executive for one of the globe's largest casino developers, Au is prepared to lobby "24/7 for 100 days,'' he said - or as long as it takes for a legislative vote on a bill to bring resort casinos to Miami-Dade and Broward. "I'm stationed here,'' he said Tuesday, in between meetings.

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