TALLAHASSEE – A political committee backed by Las Vegas Sands, a powerful addition to the Florida gambling market, this week unveiled two new voting initiatives calling for voters to approve up to three new Florida casinos and use existing card rooms in North Florida to offer casino games.
The two proposals submitted to the Florida Division of Elections this month by a Jacksonville-based political committee called Florida Voters in Charge, both target North Florida for game expansion. They appear to have been written to avoid opposition from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, who were granted a casino monopoly in most of South Florida by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, and who have initial support from key players in Jacksonville .
Under the proposal titled “Restricted Authorization of Casino Games”, companies with active card room licenses will be allowed to offer casino games such as baccarat, chemin de fer, roulette, craps, blackjack and slot machines from January 1, 2022, if they are “more than 130 miles on a straight line from all tribal establishments. ” The company can move to another location within the county until December 31, 2025, but must make a minimum capital investment of $ 250 million within three years.
The second proposal, similarly titled “Authorizes a Limited Number of New Casinos”, would allow the newly formed Florida Gaming Control Commission to license up to three additional Florida casinos as long as they are not “within 100 miles in a straight line of “Are located every tribal institution.”
The new casino operator must invest at least $ 500 million in the facility, including retail, hotel, entertainment and convention developments, “provided these facilities are in close proximity to the gaming floor.”
None of the proposals authorize any of the new casinos to offer online sports betting, leaving that process solely to the Seminole tribe. Under the 30-year $ 500 million per year gaming contract reached by the Florida Governor and Seminole Tribe, the tribe would offer Florida mobile sports betting on its tribal land, mobile app, and through partnerships with existing parimutuels.
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In contrast, international sports betting giants FanDuel and DraftKings have launched their own voting initiative to encourage voters to approve online sports betting in all Florida parimutuels, professional sports stadiums and across the state through a mobile sports betting platform. If approved, the tribe would withhold an estimated $ 100 million in annual payments.
The tribe’s casinos are located in Hollywood, Brighton, Coconut Creek, Immokalee, and Tampa, and Florida Voters in Charge organizers have insisted that the proposals do not violate the terms of the agreement between the tribe and the state.
“The radius is outside the mileage limits set in the compact car so as not to affect the revenue sharing agreement with the Seminole Indian tribe,” said Sarah Bascom, spokeswoman for Florida Voters in Charge.
Gary Bitner, spokesman for the tribe, agreed.
“Unlike the proposed sports betting voting initiative, none of these initiatives would affect the new gaming pact or affect the $ 2.5 billion revenue sharing guarantee for the state of Florida for the first five years of the pact,” he said.
Las Vegas Sands, which sold its Las Vegas properties earlier this year and is looking for opportunities in other states, is rumored to be considering partnering with the owners of Bestbet in Jacksonville and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Pensacola in their casino expansion effort.
A Las Vegas Sands spokesman declined to comment on the discussions about why the company sees Florida as a good market for its expansion investments or whether it will put one or both of the constitutional amendments on the 2022 ballot. A spokesman for the Poarch Band did not respond to requests for comment.
Bascom said “both of these electoral initiatives are options we are considering” and the policy committee “will make a decision on which option we will start collecting signatures for shortly”.
The Mayor of Jacksonville endorsed it
Meanwhile, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry expressed his support for the effort in a tweet on Thursday:
Jax is now a top sports entertainment destination and I appreciate the opportunity to add games to @cityofjax’s offering. I look forward to speaking to gaming executives about our potential and why we are the right choice for @LasVegasSands https://t.co/2o7pAJwYDT
– Lenny Curry (@lennycurry) July 15, 2021
“Jax is now a top sports entertainment destination and I welcome the opportunity to add games to @cityofjax’s offering. I look forward to speaking with gaming executives about our potential and why we are the right choice for @LasVegasSands, ”he wrote.
The owners of Bestbet have tried expanding gambling in the Jacksonville area for several years and they have failed. In 2016, the company spent more than $ 2 million on a referendum to add up to 2,000 slot machines at its Duval County facility and sell the casino to the Alabama-based Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
Duval County’s voters approved it with 54 percent, but the attempt was voided by the Florida Supreme Court in 2017, which said expanded gambling could only take place if the governor and legislature change state law.
Marc Dunbar, a Tallahassee attorney and gambling advisor who was a former partner of the Poarch tribe in their Creek Entertainment card room in Gretna, Florida, said many gambling giants see the route between Charleston, South Carolina and Daytona Beach as a potentially lucrative market, and Jacksonville would be an ideal location for a resort casino.
“Jacksonville is one of the last green markets in the country, outside of Texas and just before Atlanta,” he said. “All casino operators would like to be here.”
But the task of getting a successful voter registration is a difficult one. Florida voters approved Amendment 3 in 2018, which requires that any expansion of gambling in any part of the state must win the approval of 60 percent of voters in a statewide referendum in order to become law.
As a result, Las Vegas Sands proposals must collect more than 1 million signatures each and overcome a new state law that limits signature collection contributions to $ 3,000. The premium limit was suspended by U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor earlier this month, but is expected to be lifted. The language for the proposals must also be approved by the Florida Supreme Court.
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“They’re sailing at hurricane strength,” said Dunbar. “It will be very difficult and expensive.”
The proposed voting language was announced at the same time that Las Vegas Sands wrote a single check to the Political Committee for $ 17 million for efforts to amend the Constitution. It is only valid as an initial offer to fund a constitutional amendment in Florida. But it’s not the only company raising money for such an effort.
$ 62 million already raised
Gambling interests poured $ 62 million into efforts to influence electoral action in late June, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
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Sports betting giants FanDuel and DraftKings each provided $ 10 million checks to Florida Education Champions, the political committee behind a 2022 election initiative calling on voters to approve online sports betting across the state. Florida-based Magic City Casino has donated $ 15 million to its People Against Regulatory Legislation Addressing You (PARLAY) political committee for purposes that are yet to be determined. And the Seminole tribe donated $ 10 million to a political committee called Voters in Control Inc. in an effort to counter measures that could undermine their gambling business with the state.
Gambling opponents say the cash rush to Florida was predictable after DeSantis and Florida lawmakers approved the contract that adds full Las Vegas-style casinos to the games offered by the Seminole tribe, as well as control of Florida sports betting transactions.
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“This is going to be considered one of the worst Florida lawmakers can make,” said Armando Codina, a Coral Gables-based developer and one of the state’s most vocal anti-gambling opponents. “It opens the floodgates to unlimited gambling. Now everyone is trying to get a piece of the cake. “
Meanwhile, some uncertainties remain. The contract between the state and the Seminole Tribe must be approved by the US Department of the Interior, which governs tribal games. Federal regulators have 45 days after the pact was filed on June 21 to make a decision, which ends on August 5. However, in order to become official, the decision has to be printed in the federal register, which is often a few days after the Department’s Interior Ministry decision.
It is also unknown what role Disney will play in creating these casino expansion initiatives. The company has been a generous supporter of No Casinos, an opposition gaming group that has historically resisted attempts to bring resort casinos to Florida.
