West Flagler and affiliates call the attempt to bypass the constitutional requirement a “transparent artifice” and they want the court to reject the DeSantis agreement and send the message that “a voter-approved constitutional amendment initiated by a citizens’ petition is the exclusive means by which off-reservation sports betting can be authorized in Florida,” the petition says. To get around the Florida constitutional amendment, the agreement signed by DeSantis required the tribe to operate a so-called “hub-and-spoke” model for sports betting, which moves all online sports bets from players located in Florida but outside of tribal lands through the tribe’s servers. The lawsuit argues that because of a constitutional amendment overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2018, expansion of gambling in Florida cannot occur without voter approval and the sports betting provisions of the compact are unconstitutional unless voters approve it first in a statewide referendum. The 30-year agreement, known as a compact, allows anyone over the age of 21 anywhere in Florida to use a sports betting app on their phone to place a bet with the tribe, or through Florida pari-mutuels that contract with the tribe for that purpose.
