Betting app available to entire state

The Seminole Tribe’s mobile sports betting app is now available to all Floridians, Hard Rock Chairman Jim Allen confirmed Tuesday.

The app, Hard Rock Bet, launched in early November in a “limited” fashion for existing customers from its previous, shortlived launch in 2021, with a waitlist for new customers. Since its launch, growing numbers of users have gained access.

The app became fully available Tuesday, Allen said during an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel about the planned launch of in-person sports betting, craps and roulette at the tribe’s South Florida casinos on Thursday.

The full launch comes amid two lawsuits filed by West Flagler Associates, a group of betting companies, that seek to halt mobile sports betting, one before the Florida Supreme Court and the other before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The lawsuits argue that the compact between the state and the tribe that authorizes mobile sports betting violates federal law because the betting does not occur on tribal land. The state, meanwhile, has contended that the betting does not violate the law because the servers receiving the bets are on tribal land.

The tribe’s app had previously launched statewide under a different name in 2021 but was forced to halt operations due to the lawsuits.

In coming days, Allen said, several pari-mutuel companies also intend to launch their own sports betting apps as part of the “hub and spoke” system where a cut of the revenue goes to the tribe.

Asked whether he was concerned that the app could be forced to halt again, Allen said, “I think we are always respectful to the legal process. So until a court makes a decision in a different direction, we move forward.”

Anyone over 21 who is currently in Florida can now use the app. Those in Arizona, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and New Jersey also have access.