Florida lawmakers approve Seminole Tribe sports betting

Florida’s legislature has approved a compact reached between Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the Seminole Tribe that will allow the tribe to operate sports betting at venues around the state.

The Associated Press reported that the agreement passed by a wide margin in both chambers this week, with the House voting 97-17 on Wednesday, after DeSantis approved it in April.

“It is a good deal for our state,” state Rep. Randy Fine (R) told the AP in a statement. “Could we get a better deal? I don’t know. I’d like to think I could, sure. But I don’t have that choice. I have this deal and a closer path to a million and half dollars a day.”

The compact will still require approval by the Department of the Interior, which is now run by a Native American secretary, Deb Haaland, for the first time in U.S. history. If approved, sports gambling could begin in Florida in October.

The passage of the deal comes just a day after Maryland’s governor signed into a law a measure approving sports betting following widespread approval of the idea in a ballot measure last year.

Lawmakers in Ohio are also considering legalizing the practice.