Hard Rock Bet has been launched by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida’s Sunshine State.
Hard Rock Bet in Florida, operated by the Seminole Tribe, is now offering early access for online sports betting. Early access to sports betting is only available for those who have bet with Hard Rock Bet previously and who are members of the loyalty program Unity by Hard Rock.
The tribe had announced its relaunch of sports betting in Florida a week earlier. Craps, Roulette and Sports Betting will be launched at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood on 7 December.
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa will have these available on the 8th of December.
Seminole Casino Immokalee will open on 11 December. Seminole Brighton Casino is also set to launch.
Hard Rock Bet has announced early access to its new Hard Rock Bet app on On X, formerly Twitter.
The tweet read: “Early Access to Hard Rock Bet in Florida is now Live!” Hard Rock Bet Florida is now open to all players who previously bet with the company, which includes Unity by Hard Rock loyalty program members.
The next step of the implementation
Seminoles had a small glimmer hope after US Supreme Court denied pari-mutuel betting company West Flagler Associates motion to remain in October. The Seminoles were not able to start sports betting without any opposition, but the US Supreme Court’s rejection of West Flagler Associates’ motion to stay in October gave them a small window for launching. They have taken advantage.
Hard Rock Bet was already live in Florida by 2021 after Ron DeSantis approved a gambling compact allowing the Seminoles exclusively to provide sports betting in Florida.
This was stopped in December 2021, after District of Columbia ruled the compact contravened the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The suit was filed after West Flagler, Bonita Fort Myers and West Flagler questioned if offering sports betting via tribal servers is the same thing as betting on tribe land.
West Flagler, a pari-mutuel betting operator filed a lawsuit in September against DeSantis as well as the Florida legislature. Pari-mutuel betting operators questioned whether DeSantis or the Florida legislature exceeded their authority in regards to the approval of the gaming compact for 2021.
West Flagler intensified its legal challenge in August 2023 when it filed for a second hearing in the June 2023 case that it lost to secretary of interior Debra haaland.
