Online sports wagering has legally started in Florida, although the legality of that betting is still being evaluated in the courts.

Hard Rock Sportsbook, which is offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, is now live in the state for gamblers 21 and older, according to its site. Miami radio host Andy Slater initially broke the news that wagers were being accepted by means of the sportsbook's mobile app, which is likewise readily available in Iowa and New Jersey.

The "early access launch" of the sportsbook (and its $100 very first bet offer) comes as Florida's design of legal sports wagering remains the target of legal obstacles by challengers to the plan. A hearing for one of those obstacles is scheduled to happen on Friday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed in April the brand-new gaming compact with the state's Seminole Tribe that included online sports wagering. The compact was then approved by the state legislature in May and "deemed" authorized by the U.S. Department of the Interior in August.

The compact enables the tribe to offer in-person sports betting also. Yet while the Seminole are expected to partner with off-tracks betting, such as race course, for the consumer-facing, front-end of the organization, all sports gaming should ultimately flow through the tribe in Florida.

Sports betting should be "specifically by and through" sportsbooks run by the Seminole or its authorized management contractor, the video gaming compact says. Moreover, all sports betting is to be deemed specifically done by the tribe even when the wagers are positioned by somebody in the state on their phone, but not on the people's lands.

"The Tribe and State refer to this arrangement as a 'center and spoke' design, where the Tribe's servers are the hub, and the spokes are the mobile devices and contracted Qualified Pari-mutuel Permitholders facilities where the wagers come from," the August approval letter from the Department of the Interior kept in mind.

SLATER SCOOP: Sports betting in Florida has actually started.

Acid rock Sportsbook simply began accepting wagers on their mobile app.

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After a modification to the 30-year compact, the start date for sports wagering in Florida was to be no earlier than October 15.

Then came several lawsuits that were submitted to stop that from taking place, followed by court filings that suggested the earliest the Seminole would introduce online sports betting would be November 15. And although one lawsuit was dismissed in October, at least 2 others are still working their way through federal court.

There is also an ongoing effort by a group backed by DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Group to put a sports betting-related concern on the November 2022 ballot in Florida. That proposed constitutional amendment would enable other online sportsbook operators to take bets in the state, not just the Seminole.

Collaborate

The start of in-person, retail wagering at the Seminole's 6 casinos in the state has yet to be revealed. But the state and the tribe are obviously comfortable enough with the legal challenges to begin enabling mobile wagers to be put.

On October 28, the Seminole also revealed five Florida pari-mutuels had actually struck marketing contracts with the people ahead of the launch of sports betting. Under the regards to the gaming compact with the state, the people was expected to participate in a minimum of 3 of those arrangements with pari-mutuels.