Different strides continue to be made in different US states, as Florida continues to encounter challenges – despite plans for the state’s betting market to launch this month – although Connecticut is moving forward.
Under the current terms regarding the launch of Florida’s sports wagering sector, the Seminole Tribe, which has operated a number of casinos under the Hard Rock Cafe brand since 2007, was due to commence sports betting operations on Friday.
However, it is understood Native American tribes are not quite ready to launch its betting product yet, whilst a number of lawsuits are also being filed against the state, including by anti-gambling organisations.
Sharing his views on the situation in Florida earlier this week, Adam Candee, Co-Host at the Legal Sports Report, said: “There are lawsuits in DC, there are lawsuits in Florida, there are lawsuits that probably haven’t even been filed yet here – there’s the DraftKings and FanDuel ‘education champions’ ballot initiative that’s out there.
“What we know at this point from some of the reporting in Florida from the Orlando Sentinel and others that says there could be at least a month delay, that the Seminole and Hard Rock are not necessarily ready to go quite yet.
“Some of our folks had heard that that was actually a mutually agreed upon thing to try and work out some of the issues that were happening behind the scenes, and there were court filings everyday this week.”
He concluded: “The long and short of it is that it’s not happening right now. A month out seems like a reasonable bet, but there are court dates coming up within that time that will tell us a lot more about the future of sports betting in Florida.”
Meanwhile, heading north to the New England state of Connecticut, a number of positive developments for the gambling industry have ensued, as full online betting operations were initiated in the state yesterday.
“We’re in soft launch for Connecticut,” Dustin Gauker, LSR Co-Host, observed. “A small number – hundreds of users – are being granted access to the apps there. We’ve got some information from the lottery which is partnering with Rush Street Interactive, which is best known as BetRivers across the country and deployed as PlaySugarHouse in Connecticut.
“They have these users, and everythings going great – they’re telling us things are going great, they’re seeing normal activity, it’s a good test of the system. They’ve told us what people are betting on, which is table tennis.
“It’s a soft launch – we’re looking at a full launch on Tuesday (19 October) where everybody can sign up to the three apps which are live there – DraftKings, FanDuel and PlaySugarHouse. Pretty soon the throttle will be off and you will be able to bet anywhere in Connecticut.”
Source – Legal Sports Report YouTube Channel
