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Sports betting to kick off in-person at all six Seminole casinos in Florida

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Published  November 1, 2023 8:38pm EDT
Florida
FOX 13 News

In-person sports betting

Jordan Bowen reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - Get ready to roll the dice, put it all on red or place a wager on your favorite team. Come December, The Seminole Tribe of Florida will begin craps, roulette, and in-person sports betting at all six of its casinos in Florida.

"The impact of opening a retail sports book is going to be somewhat muted compared to online, but still it's going to be a big deal. It's going to be like a grand opening," Attorney Daniel Wallach said. "There is sort of this pent-up demand to wager on sports. There's been so many people vocal about this on Twitter. I'm feeling it."

The roll out comes more than two years after the Seminole Tribe and the state entered into the compact to allow it.

RELATED: Sports betting plan faces new challenge in Florida

So why now? As Wallach explained it's likely because of last week's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. They rejected a motion by West Flagler Associates to prevent the compact from taking effect.

"Once that stay motion got denied I think it opened the door for the tribe to relaunch their compact activities," Wallach said.

In-person sports betting, craps and roulette will launch at three Seminole casinos in South Florida on December 7 and launch at the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa the following day on December 8 as well as two other Seminole casinos later that month.

According to Hard Rock, it'll generate at least 1,000 new jobs.

MORE: Seminole Tribe gets win in Florida sports betting case

"It's going to be a big deal because the social factor and the camaraderie associated with like going to a sports book, watching the games together, it's going to be exciting. It's going to be an event," Wallach said.

So what does this mean for when online sports-betting could start? According to FOX Sports' Andy Slater, sports betting in Florida will begin on the Hard Rock Bet app within the next two to three weeks, citing multiple sources.

FOX 13 reached out to HardRock and the tribe about the tweet and are still waiting to hear back.