Two bills were introduced in the Florida legislature this week that would expand the state’s ban on gambling. “Sweepstakes casinos,” internet casino gaming, and online sports betting outside its compact with the Seminole Tribe could be prohibited if the legislation passes.
Representative Walter Barnaby filed HB953 24 February. Senator Corey Simon filed his companion bill, S1404, in the upper chamber 26 February. The language in the bills expands the ban to “internet gambling” and “internet sports wagering.” As written, the bills leave room for interpretation; one is that the Seminole Tribe may be looking to expand into internet casino gaming via Hard Rock, and another is that the bill is an effective ban on sweepstakes casinos.
Hard Rock expanded its retail casino suite of games to include Class III gaming — including mobile sports betting — with the 30-year compact it signed with Florida in May 2021 worth at least $500 million (£397 million/€447 million) annually. That compact withstood multiple legal challenges at the state and federal levels. Hard Rock has been offering online sports betting since December 2023.
How ‘internet gambling’ is defined
In both bills, “internet gambling” has been amended to be defined as the following:
…means to play or engage in any game in which money or other thing of value is awarded based on chance, regardless of any application of skill, that is available on the Internet and accessible on a mobile device, computer terminal, or other similar access device and simulates casino-style gaming, including, but not limited to, slot machines, video poker, and table games.
The key phrase appears to be “simulates casino-style gaming.” That looks to be a direct challenge to sweepstakes casinos. Those platforms offer free-to-play casino gaming with rewards that can result in payouts.
How ‘internet sports wagering’ is defined
Internet sports betting is more straightforward in the bills given it is currently in place. Barnaby and Simon defined it as a “means to stake, bet, or wager any money or other thing of value upon the result of any trial or contest of skill, speed, power, or endurance of human or beast that is available in the Internet and accessible on a mobile device, computer terminal, or other similar access device.”
There are legal penalties for both players and providers of such contests. Players who engage in internet gambling in Florida are guilty of a second-degree misdemeanor. But it takes two offenses to reach that threshold for internet sports betting.
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Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/sports-betting/online-sports-betting/florida-sweepstakes-ban-legislation/
