Online sports wagering has lawfully started in Florida, although the legality of that wagering is still being tested in the courts.

Acid 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 website. Miami radio host Andy Slater initially broke the news that wagers were being accepted through the sportsbook's mobile app, which is likewise offered in Iowa and New Jersey.

The "early gain access to launch" of the sportsbook (and its $100 first bet offer) comes as Florida's design of legal sports wagering stays the target of legal difficulties by opponents to the arrangement. A hearing for among those difficulties is arranged to occur on Friday.

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

The compact allows the people to provide in-person sports betting as well. Yet while the Seminole are expected to partner with gaming houses, such as race course, for the consumer-facing, front-end of the service, all sports gaming need to eventually stream through the people in Florida.

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

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

SLATER SCOOP: Sports betting in Florida has started.

Acid rock Sportsbook just started accepting wagers on their mobile app.

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

Then came numerous lawsuits that were filed to stop that from occurring, followed by court filings that suggested the earliest the Seminole would introduce online sports wagering would be November 15. And although one lawsuit was dismissed in October, at least 2 others are still working their method 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 question on the November 2022 ballot in Florida. That proposed constitutional amendment would allow 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 gambling establishments in the state has yet to be revealed. But the state and the tribe are apparently comfortable enough with the legal obstacles to start enabling mobile wagers to be positioned.

On October 28, the Seminole likewise announced 5 Florida off-tracks betting had actually struck marketing contracts with the people ahead of the launch of sports wagering. Under the terms of the video gaming compact with the state, the tribe was expected to get in into a minimum of three of those agreements with pari-mutuels.