The relaunch of the Seminole Tribe’s Hard Rock Bet online sportsbook may face another delay, as parimutuel betting operator West Flagler Associates files a petition calling for a rehearing of the case it lost on 30 June.
On 14 August, West Flagler submitted a petition for rehearing to the DC Circuit court, following the betting operator’s loss in the recent West Flagler Assoc. vs Haaland case.
This case cleared the path for the Seminoles to offer sports betting statewide in Florida, by confirming the state’s “hub-and-spoke” model sports from federal objections.
West Flagler file en banc rehearing
West Flagler’s filing called for an en banc rehearing. This means the case would be reheard by all judges on the bench at the DC Circuit Court, as opposed to the panel of three that heard the original case.
According to the Yale journal on regulation, a successful en banc rebench petition is a rare event in the DC Circuit.
included a 1997 Ninth Circuit Court case known as Williams v. Babbitt. This case concerned the legality of excluding non-natives from the Alaskan reindeer industry.
West Flagler said the opinion conflicted with the court’s decision in that case, “yet fails to even cite it.”
“This court should grant rehearing to address the conflict between what the opinion holds and what the Ninth Circuit held in Williams on an issue of exceptional importance,” said West Flagler in the petition.
Is the Supreme Court next?
It has been speculated the case will be further appealed to the Supreme Court if the petition fails.
However, founding member of Ifrah Law, Jeff Ifrah, cast some doubt on this possibility in the latest episode of iGB’s World Series of Politics podcast. The episode also featured Nova Southeastern University professor Bob Jarvis.
“Typically, the Supreme Court only takes cases where there is some sort of dispute between different Circuit Courts on the issue at hand,” said Ifrah. “Because this has never happened before, I don’t really think there is another relevant case to say stands in contrast to the DC Circuit case.”
