1 day ago  New Florida Sports Betting Proposal: 2021 Legalization Hopes Emerge The bills that were filed are SB 392, SB 394, and SB 396, and these bills together would grant sports betting in the state and give the Florida Lottery the regulatory power to oversee all legal sports betting. After a failed legal sports betting attempt in 2020, Florida State Senator Jeff Brandes has introduced a new bill that could give Florida legal sports betting in 2021. The main motivation for Florida to legalize sports betting is tax revenue. The proposed bill would net the state 15% of all revenue and charge each sportsbook a $100,000.

State Senator Jeff Brandes filed a bill last week which would regulate Florida sports betting for anyone 21 years of age and older. His bill sets the guidelines for obtaining a sports betting license via the Department of Lottery, and allow licensees to offer wagers in-person or at a betting kiosk.

“Sports betting is yet another area where we can enhance individual freedom,” Brandes said, according to Florida Politics. “In absence of a well regulated structure, we’ve seen a complex underground industry developed in Florida, potentially breeding habits of addiction, while robbing our government of revenue that should be collected and remitted for education.”

The bill requires prompt notification to the Department of Lottery of any criminal action or disciplinary proceedings on the part of a licensee or its employees and of any abnormal betting activity or patterns that could threaten the integrity of a sporting event including those that could corrupt sporting event outcomes.

This Florida sports betting bill imposes strict limits on who, when, and where sports bets may be placed through a licensed operator, but makes no mention of allowing online betting. For more information, visit Yogo Net.

State Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-FL) introduced a package of sports betting legislation on Monday, marking his second such attempt on the matter in just over a year.

Brandes pre-filed three bills — Senate Bill 392 (SB 392), SB 394 and SB 396 — for Florida’s 2021 legislative session, which commences in March. Similar legislation was pitched by the state senator in late 2019, but didn’t see the light of day in the 2020 session because this was an election year and lawmakers were reluctant to take up potentially contentious issues.

SB 392 outlines who is and isn’t elgibile to particpate in sports betting in the Sunshine State, licensing requirements and fees, the role of the Department of Lottery and other matters.

Authorizing certain persons to place wagers on a sports event under certain circumstances; providing duties and responsibilities of the Department of the Lottery relating to sports pools; authorizing persons to apply to the department for a license to operate a sports pool; authorizing a licensee to have certain websites and applications under certain circumstances; requiring the department and licensees to adopt certain procedures to prevent certain persons from wagering; providing for the disbursement of unclaimed winnings, etc.,” according to a portion of the bill.

In 2019, State Sen. Wilton Simpson (R-FL), now president of th senate, worked on a bill with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the state’s dominant tribal gaming operator, that would have allowed for sports wagering at the Seminoles’ casinos and at pari-mutuel establishments, but that legislation didn’t advance.

Debate Could Get Testy

Assuming the Brandes legislation can get to the floor for debate, there are still no guarantees sports betting will come to life in the Sunshine State.

In 2018, voters there overwhelmingly passed the Amendment 3 ballot initiative, putting the matter of casino gaming expansion in voters’ hands. The proposition passed so easily, garnering 71 percent support, that it’s now part of the state constitution. Some experts say that, in Florida, sports betting falls under the definition of casino gaming, meaning the issue can’t be legislated and that voters are the ultimate determiners of whether it happens or not.

Then there’s the potential for commercial and tribal operators to butt heads. While the Seminole Tribe, under the Hard Rock brand, controls Florida’s biggest casinos, commercial entities have some exposure in the state.

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For example, Caesars Entertainment operates the Isle Casino, a racino in Pompano Park, and would almost certainly want a piece of the Florida sports wagering pie. Billionaire businessman Phil Ruffin, who controls Treasure Island on the Las Vegas Strip, owns Casino Miami.

Florida: One of the Golden Geese

While regulated sports wagering is proliferating across the country, the sacred cows remains California, Texas and Florida — the three largest states by population.

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For its part, the Sunshine State is an alluring market because it’s home to about 21.5 million residents and that tally is growing. Additionally, the state has nine professional franchises across the four major domestic sports and robust offerings for bettors that enjoy local college sports via Florida State, Miami University and the University of Florida as well as a slew of Group of Five schools.

In SB 394, one of Brandes’s companion bills to SB 392, the senator proposes a tax rate of 15 percent on what operators hold after sports betting winnings are paid out to bettors. At that level, Florida matches Illinois and is below the 20 percent levy in Tennessee.

The post Florida Lawmaker Brandes Reintroduces Sports Betting Bills, Eyes 2021 Legalization appeared first on Casino.org.

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