Florida May Have Strengthened Hard Rock’s Betting Monopoly

By now, no one should be surprised that Florida has a sports betting monopoly. Thanks to a 30-year compact, the state of Florida and Hard Rock Casino — owned by the Seminole Tribes — are in bed not just for legal sports betting, but table games too. The Hard Rock has casinos dotting the entire state.

However, many have tried and failed to enter the market. Most recently, a lawsuit made its way to the Supreme Court during the summer of 2024. The courts decided not to hear the case, which fortified the Hard Rock’s empire statewide.

Now there’s news that Florida governor Ron DeSantis wants to change laws that would end up benefitting the Seminoles and Hard Rock. At the same time, it might thwart a plan by the sitting president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Keep reading to get the full details!

Ballot Initiatives Could Become Difficult In Florida

DeSantis wants to clamp down on voter initiatives — and he wants to do it fast. Per a report from CNN, DeSantis called his fellow state lawmakers into an emergency meeting on January 27. The topic of discussion? A total overhaul of citizen-led amendments to the Florida constitution.

You see, as it stands, driven voters can get things on the ballot somewhat easily. All it takes is for a petition to gather 8 percent of Florida voters — which shakes out to $900,000 people. If a petition can do that, then a statewide referendum can be used to amend the constitution.

Voters leverage this too. Most recently, Amendment 3 landed on the November ballot due to citizen support. The amendment called for the legalization of medical marijuana in the state. In the ballot box, it did win the majority vote — but it needed 60 percent to pass, which it didn’t get. Still, you can see why Florida Republicans might want to make a change to the process. They don’t want these initiatives to undermine them.

Here’s the thing though: DeSantis doesn’t want to completely do away with signature-led initiatives. No, he just wants to make it harder. Under the new proposal, groups trying to change the constitution wouldn’t be able to collect signatures the usual and easy way — by asking folks in public to sign a petition with a clipboard and pen. Instead, every Floridian would have to personally request a form from their local elections office, fill it out, and sign it to show their support. Womp womp womp.

Worse, breaking the rules would incur a penalty. Per the proposal, gathering more than two signatures besides your own would be considered a third-degree felony in Florida. Yes, a felony — not a misdemeanor. This would effectively ban organized petition drives.

“It would all but destroy the citizens initiative process in the state of Florida. Period. End of story,” said Ben Pollara, a Democratic consultant who helped with the medical marihuana referendum we mentioned. “This isn’t like in the past where they’re making it more difficult or more expensive. This just kills it. It’s not something you can spend your way out of.”

Will This Proposal Pass?

As of this writing, this is purely a proposal — nothing is set in stone. Still, the second most powerful man in Florida politics, DeSantis, is firmly behind it so there will be pressure to get this through the door. He’s staunchly against it because he believes it gives special-interest groups too much power. In DeSantis’ eyes, these groups have the pockets to bankroll professional petition-gatherers and influence policy.

“Our constitution should not be for sale to the highest bidder, so the reform is needed,” DeSantis said on the issue.

It’s too early to glean how much support there is for this proposal as it literally just happened. But Florida Republicans tend to be united on issues so we’d expect most to follow suit given how adamant DeSantis is on the issue. If passed, there’s one huge beneficiary and one loser who happens to be more powerful than DeSantis in Florida.

DeSantis Proposal Has Huge Fallout Effect

Without question, the Seminoles have to be loving this proposal — and we mean loving it! By making the referendum process even more difficult, it would prevent new competition from entering Florida’s sports betting scene. Theoretically, top mobile sports betting apps like DraftKings can enter the market using a signature initiative right now. But even DraftKings might not have the pockets to get 900,000 signatures the way DeSantis proposed.

“This proposal would seal off competition for sports betting and casino gambling in Florida,” said Daniel Wallach. “It’s unprecedented for a state as populous as Florida.”

But DraftKings might not be the biggest losers of this proposal. No, it also throws a giant wrench in the plans of Trump. You see, POTUS has long floated the idea of having a casino under his name in Florida, the state he now calls home. The idea has been raised for the Trump National Doral Miami resort.

It’s unknown whether DeSantis is fully aware of this dilemma. As he learned during the 2024 Republican primaries, it’s not a smart career move to make an enemy out of Trump. Does he really want to evoke the wrath of Trump again? We’ll just have to wait and see.