With the legislature set to reconvene next week to hash out a landmark gaming compact, the Florida Seminole Tribe dropped a new ad touting “trust” with Florida voters and the job creating potential of the proposed gambling agreement.
The 30-second spot, titled “Honor,” promotes last month’s monumental gaming deal between the Tribe and Florida, pointing to Amendment 3 from 2018 — which was adopted with a 71 percent approval from Floridians — that puts gaming expansion in the hands of voters.
The ad also highlights the benefits of the agreement — including billions in new revenue and the creation of more jobs in the Sunshine State.
“In 2018, Floridians voted overwhelmingly to control gaming, that we’d make the call with one exception: a new partnership with the Seminole Tribe,” the narrator says. “Now we can make history with a Compact creating new jobs and billions more for the State… Guaranteed.”
Governor Ron DeSantis struck the historic compact last month with the Seminoles, just one week before the 2021 Legislative Session was set to end. The deal is expected to give the Tribe exclusive rights over sports betting in the state, allowing the Tribe to open statewide mobile sports wagering and retail sportsbooks, which would only be offered through their own Hard Rock facilities, as well as through state pari-mutuels.
The Tribe would also be able to add three additional casinos and oversee craps and roulette gaming exclusively. In return, the Seminoles would pay the state of Florida $500 million a year, or $150 million more than the old deal. The agreement will generate the state a minimum of $2.5 billion in new revenue over the next five years and an estimated $6 billion through 2030.
The new ad, which is set to run statewide in the leadup to next week’s special session, concludes with the tribe noting the irreplaceable trust established with statewide voters.
“The Seminoles have earned something irreplaceable: our trust. Which is why we chose to honor it in our Constitution,” the announcer concludes.
While the new deal could become one of the Governor’s signature achievements, experts say it will face intense legal scrutiny before reaching its final destination. The compact he negotiated will likely need to clear three big hurdles: the state legislature; a likely pit stop at the Florida Supreme Court; and then, depending on the outcome there, a final stop with Florida voters who will decide the deal’s fate.
