HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The Seminole Tribe announced Tuesday that it has relaunched its mobile sports betting app in a “limited” fashion.
“The Seminole Tribe is offering limited access to existing Florida customers to test its Hard Rock Bet platform,” Gary Bitner, a spokesperson for the tribe, said in a statement Tuesday.
The statement did not elaborate on how many customers have access or what the limitations are.
It comes one week after the Seminole Tribe of Florida announced that they will move forward with an expansion of casino games after a gaming compact was approved by the tribe and the State of Florida in 2021.
The Seminole Tribe previously launched the sports betting app in 2021, but stopped accepting wagers after a Supreme Court ruling blocked the deal.
Tribal officials from the Seminole Tribe and Seminole Hard Rock said last Wednesday that they will launch craps, roulette and sports betting at all six Seminole Casinos in Florida in December.
In South Florida, they will start on Dec. 7 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood, and Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.
The new betting will launch at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa on Dec. 8.
They will launch Dec. 11 at Seminole Casino Immokalee, near Naples, and Seminole Brighton Casino, on the northwest side of Lake Okeechobee.
“The Seminole Tribe thanks the State of Florida, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Justice for defending our Compact. By working together, the Tribe, the State, and the federal government achieved a historic legal victory,” said Marcellus Osceola Jr., Chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
“The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s new initiative will create jobs, increase tourism, and provide billions in added revenue for our state,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis. “I was proud to work with the Tribe on our historic Gaming Compact and I look forward to its full implementation.”
Sports betting has been in limbo for two years in Florida amid a legal battle over the carrying out of a $2.5 billion gambling deal between the Seminole Tribe and the state.
In addition to allowing the Seminoles to add craps and roulette at their casinos, the agreement also allowed the Seminoles to add three casinos on tribal property in Broward County. In exchange, the Seminole Tribe agreed to pay the state at least $2.5 billion over the first five years and possibly billions more throughout the 30-year agreement.