Colorado Tribe the First to Seek Seminole Sports Betting Deal

Colorado Tribe the First to Seek Seminole Sports Betting Deal

The first domino tripped by the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s latest legal success might have fallen in the Colorado sports betting industry.

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe last week filed suit against Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Division of Gaming director Christopher Schroder, claiming the state is trying to freeze it out of a lucrative mobile sports betting market.

Attorneys for the Colorado-based tribe cite a US Supreme Court decision to decline a high-court review of the Seminoles’ sports betting monopoly in Florida.

West Flagler Associates spent years litigating against the Department of the Interior in the Florida case. In 2021, the federal agency tacitly approved a 30-year compact allowing Hard Rock Bet to allow mobile sports betting state-wide. The Seminole Tribe used servers on tribal land to reach the entire state with an online sportsbook and sportsbook app.

Some industry observers believed Hard Rock Bet’s hub-and-spoke mobile sports betting system would become the envy — if not the model — for other tribes attempting to exploit the federal court’s modernized view of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Southern Ute tribal chairman Melvin Baker announced the suit at the Colorado American Indian Affairs Interim Study Committee. He said that because West Flagler’s case against the DOI “held that the Seminole tribe was entitled to engage in statewide sports betting in Florida.” Therefore, “any legal objection to the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain from engaging in statewide sports betting is gone.”

Southern Utes See SCOTUS Block as a Key

The Southern Utes tried before the Seminoles ever did and were rebuffed. Now, they believe they have legal leverage.

But the key may still be a willingness between tribal and state leadership to hash out a deal.

In Florida, there was such a will. State economists project $4.4 billion in revenue-sharing payments flowing from Seminole Gaming into state coffers by the end of the decade. In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt and native tribes share an acrimonious history. Colorado is off to a troubled start, too.

Veteran tribal lawyer Scott Crowell addressed the willingness issue two weeks ago on the New Normal podcast:

“This [Florida] decision shows what a willing tribe and a willing state are able to authorize mobile wagering,” he said. “Although it’s helpful to tribes in those states that have already authorized mobile sports wagering for non-Indian entities, it doesn’t make clear states must now negotiate compacts or compact amendments to allow tribes to do the same games.”

Baker is testing the premise in Colorado. The lawsuit accuses the state of a power play over taxation. Specifically, the state refuses to give the Southern Utes access to mobile sports betting as a revenue source.

“Through actions by the state, we have been prohibited from successfully engaging in this new economic opportunity,” Baker said. “Because of these actions, non-tribal gaming enterprises have had a significant advantage. The key is market share and by waiting until sports betting became legal in Colorado, to challenge the ability of the tribes to participate … the [state division of gaming] ensured that tribal gaming enterprise would have no opportunity to reach any kind of market share.”

According to Gaming Today’s sports betting revenue tracker, Colorado has generated $18.5 billion in wagers since the legal market launched in 2020, ranking it sixth nationally during that span.

The court set an Oct. 10 date for a scheduling conference.

The Southern Utes and Ute Mountain Ute are the only tribes offering retail casino gambling in the state.

IGRA, Florida, Colorado and How We Got Here

IGRA mandates that any gambling legal in a state must be open to tribes through a compact. Working under a 1995 compact, the Southern Utes prepared to reap legal sports betting after voters narrowly approved a measure in 2019. The Southern Utes partnered with US Bookmaking to set up Sky Ute Sportsbook, taking state-wide bets with servers on tribal lands.

The Southern Utes contended they were not subject to the 10% tax required of commercial operations. The state disagreed. The lawsuit contends that state officials pressured US Bookmaking with a “threatening” letter just before the launch of non-tribal sports betting in May of 2020. The partnership dissolved in 2023.

In ways, it was the Southern Utes that changed the Native gaming paradigm by offering sports bets off tribal lands. But it didn’t last, as was the case in Florida. Now courts will decide if they are as happy with their resolution as the Seminole Tribe.

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About the Author
Brant James

Brant James

Lead Writer
Brant James is a lead writer who covers the sports betting industry and legislation at Gaming Today. An alum of the Tampa Bay Times, ESPN.com, espnW, SI.com, and USA Today, he's covered motorsports and the NHL as beats. He also once made a tail-hook landing on an aircraft carrier with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and rode to the top of Mt. Washington with Travis Pastrana. John Tortorella has yelled at him numerous times.

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