Odds improving for a Seminole gambling deal

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Legislature is showing its hand in another attempt to bring the Seminole Tribe into a new gambling agreement with the state.

The new deal would potentially end greyhound racing, bring craps and roulette to Seminole casinos and allow designated-player games.

Under a draft agreement the tribe has shown state lawmakers, it would be willing to consider designated-player games and fantasy sports leagues, like FanDuel and DraftKing, both of which it previously said were in violation of its agreement with the state.

“We’re close on the structure of an agreement, but we still need to look into the details,” said state Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Palm Coast, a Senate gambling bill sponsor.

The draft proposal by the Seminoles has not been voted on by tribe members, according to Hutson. It marks a significant reversal for the tribe, which previously won a lawsuit over designatedplayer games violating the tribe’s exclusive right to offer banked card games such as blackjack.

A spokesman for the tribe would not comment on the draft.

The Legislature has tried to pass similar gambling bills in previous years, but those attempts fell through because of disagreements between the House and the Senate. The Senate called for expansions of slot machines at some pari-mutuels and craps and roulette for the tribe. The House was against such expansions.

A proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot would give voters approval of any expansion of gambling in the state, and that has motivated the Legislature to try to hammer out an agreement with the Seminoles ahead of the 2018 election.

Another incentive is the potential loss of $250 million a year that the tribe pays to the state in return for the exclusive ability to offer banked card games under a 20-year agreement struck in 2010.

That exclusivity was supposed to last until 2015, when a new agreement would be drafted. Gov. Rick Scott and the tribe agreed on a deal that guaranteed $3 billion during the next seven years, but the Legislature failed to approve it.

Instead, the tribe sued over some pari-mutuel casinos offering designated-player games, such as three-card poker. The tribe argued the games were a violation of its exclusivity deal. The state countersued, saying the tribe continued to offer blackjack in violation of the agreement.

The court’s siding with the tribe meant the Seminoles have the right to continue to offer blackjack until the end of the original agreement, in 2030.

Yet, the tribe has continued to make payments to the state under the 2010 deal, but whether those payments will continue for the foreseeable future is unclear.

Negotiations are now being handled by the incoming leaders of both chambers, state Rep. Jose Oliva, R-Miami, and state Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who are slated to become House Speaker and Senate President, respectively, in November.

Under the proposal (SB 840) approved unanimously by the Senate Finance and Tax Appropriations Subcommittee, the Seminoles would pay the state a minimum of $3 billion over seven years in exchange for the exclusive rights to offer craps and roulette at the tribe’s seven casinos, while also legalizing designated-player games and fantasy sports sites.

The House plan (HB 7067) bans designated-player games and does not allow the tribe to have craps and roulette.

The Senate proposal also would allow dog tracks to do away with racing but keep operating their casinos, a process known as decoupling. That is not part of the House plan, nor was it addressed in the Seminoles’ proposed agreement.

Decoupling could mean the end of greyhound racing in the state, as pari-mutuel operators elect to end races that make them little money, or even operate at a loss, when compared with the lucrative card rooms operated in the state and the slot machines allowed at racetracks in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Neither gambling bill nor the Seminoles’ proposal addresses eight counties whose voters approved slot machines in their counties. Previous Senate plans called for allowing such referendums to bring slot machines to more counties, but that would likely be a deal-breaker for the tribe.