The most powerful tribal gaming operator in the state of Florida is plowing millions of dollars into the establishment of a new political committee that would be named Standing up for Florida. This was reported in Florida Politics.

Why is the tribe fighting out of state operators?

The most powerful tribe in Florida was wanting to defeat the efforts of operators from outside the state into making inroads in the state and challenge its gambling monopolies. These out-of-state operators have made voter-led petitions in order to get a foothold into the Florida gambling market.

The campaign by Seminoles was started with digital media as well as on television through an advertisement. The advertisement was titled Watch Out, Florida. The tagline to the advertisement gave a very grave warning to the voters in the state. The advertisement asked the voters to not sign any petitions.

The advertisement stated that gambling companies from outside the state are spending tens of millions of dollars in order to turn the state of Florida into another Las Vegas. The advertisement states that the gambling companies from outside the state want to change the constitution of the state in order to allow gambling that could get out of control. It also states that the profits for the out-of-state gambling companies would be huge but there would be no guarantees for the people of the state.

The operator has a virtual monopoly with respect to casino gaming in the state. There are some slot licensees in Miami-Dade and Boward counties at the Hard Rock branded casinos but the operator wants to maintain the monopoly over the market that has with respect to sports betting in response to the compact agreement that has been signed with Gov. Ron DeSantis of the state of Florida.

Voters in Charge

An initiative known as voters in charge has been started in order to petition the authorities in the state to change the constitution of the state. This would allow pari-mutuel casinos in the state to become full-fledged casinos.