In exchange, the tribe pledged to pay the state a minimum of $2.5 billion over the first five years and possibly billions of dollars more throughout the three-decade pact. The 2021 compact included the sports-betting plan, along with allowing the tribe to offer craps and roulette at its casinos and add three casinos on tribal property in Broward County. The pari-mutuel companies filed the case at the Florida Supreme Court after a federal appeals court rejected a separate challenge based on alleged violations of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The committee was chaired by John Sowinski, a communications strategist from Orlando and longtime leader of No Casinos. The Seminole Tribe contributed more than $24 million to Voters in Charge, a political committee created to help pass the amendment, according to finance records. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, or IGRA, plays a key role in tribal gambling issues across the country. The amendment said, “nothing herein shall be construed to limit the ability of the state or Native American tribes to negotiate gaming compacts pursuant to the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act for the conduct of casino gambling on tribal lands, or to affect any existing gambling on tribal lands pursuant to compacts executed by the state and Native American tribes pursuant to IGRA.” But it also included an exception for gambling that takes place on tribal lands. The constitutional amendment, approved by 71% of voters, applies to types of gambling found in casinos and to types of gambling that are considered Class III under federal law.

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