A Florida lawmaker pre-filed a chunk of laws simply earlier than the tip of 2020 that may legalize sports activities betting within the Sunshine State.
Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican representing St. Petersburg, pre-filed SB 392 final week for the 2021 legislative session, which will get underway in March. The proposal would give the state lottery the flexibility to control the trade and income from sports activities betting can be used to assist the state’s public schooling fund, according to a local CBS affiliate.
The invoice would additionally prohibit athletes, coaches, referees, and anybody working with an athletic governing physique from wagering on any of the permitted occasions.
Brandes submitted a virtually equivalent invoice final yr, nevertheless it didn’t achieve any traction and ultimately died as a result of it didn’t embrace the Seminole Tribe, which has a monopoly on conventional on line casino playing within the state.
The tribe’s present settlement with the state offers them exclusivity over Class III gaming and the tribe has already made the argument that sports activities betting, though not authorized but, falls underneath that umbrella.
A unique Republican lawmaker efficiently crafted a cope with the Seminole Tribe in 2019 in hopes of passing sports activities betting laws. The settlement would enable pari-mutuel services to function sportsbooks in addition to the Seminole’s six casinos, however the proposed invoice was not permitted.
It’s possible that if any sports activities betting laws will likely be handed in Florida this yr, the tribe must be part of the deal.
The push for sports activities betting in lots of states will proceed all through the 2021 legislative season as different states are already signaling that the problem will likely be one of many main points mentioned this yr.
In early December, a Connecticut lawmaker mentioned that sports activities betting is a lock to be legalized this yr and on the finish of the month, New York legislators started to push for cell sports activities betting within the Empire State. Currently, New York solely permits sports activities betting at its upstate brick-and-mortar casinos.
