In exchange, the tribe paid the state tens of millions of dollars - which all but dried up after it expired in 2015. “The devil’s in the details.”įlorida’s original compact with the Seminoles gave the tribe exclusive rights to slot machines and blackjack. “We’ll have to see what it says,” Geller said. Democratic support would offset that possibility. Republicans control the Legislature, but religious conservatives could balk at the agreement. He said some should address gambling addiction. Joseph Geller has long advocated for a new agreement, but he cautioned Friday that his party members would examine how new revenue will be used. It is unclear if there will be strong opposition in the Legislature. “Tallahassee wants to override the wishes of the local community,” said Braman, a former owner of the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles. The city believes a casino would increase crime and harm established restaurants, clubs and other businesses.

He believes the compact would allow the owner of the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach to transfer a gambling license he holds at a former dog track to that resort and open a casino there over that city’s objections. If that fails, he said they will challenge it in court as a violation of a 2018 initiative overwhelmingly approved by voters that says casino-style gambling can’t be expanded off tribal lands unless it garners at least 60% support on a statewide ballot measure. Miami billionaire Norman Braman, a leader of the group of business owners and others opposed to gambling’s expansion as a detriment to South Florida, said Friday they will try to block the agreement in the Legislature. “The Seminole Tribe of Florida is committed to a mutually beneficial gaming compact with the State of Florida,” said Marcellus Osceola Jr., the tribe’s chairman. The tribe, once poor, now pays each of its 4,100 members, including children, more than $100,000 annually in dividends and owns the Hard Rock brand worldwide. The Seminoles, invoking their sovereignty as a tribal nation, began their gambling operations with a high-stakes bingo parlor in 1979 and have been expanding ever since, adding slot machines, poker, blackjack and other card games.

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