President Joe Biden, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Actually Agree On Something: Sports Betting
President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis actually agree on something.
Yep, you read that right!
Over the weekend, the Biden administration urged an appeals court to reinstate a deal that gave the Seminole Tribe of Florida control of sports betting throughout state. The deal was nullified late last year after a judge ruled that the 30-year agreement violated federal law.
The deal was originally pushed by DeSantis and Seminole Tribe Chairman Marcellus Osceola, Jr.
It was ratified by the Florida Legislature in a special session last fall and opened the door to sports betting for the first time in Florida.
JOE BIDEN AND RON DESANTIS SHARE STANCE ON FLORIDA SPORTS GAMBLING, CLAY TRAVIS REACTS
Soon after, the Hard Rock Sports Betting app went live and remained active for nearly a month. The agreement was designed to allow Florida gamblers to place bets online, and deemed legal because the bets ran through computer servers on Seminole property.
Could sports betting be coming back to Florida? If Joe Biden and Ron DeSantis have their way, it will. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Things went south less than three weeks later when a U.S. District Judge nixed the plan, saying it went against the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act because it allowed gambling off of property owned by the Seminoles.
The sportsbook shut down in the middle of December and the industry has been on hold ever since.
Joe Biden backs Ron DeSantis in Florida sports betting war
A brief filed with the U.S. Department of the Interior last week backed the Biden administration's defense of the 30-year agreement.
Lawyers for Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who allowed the deal to go through last summer, said she had no authority to "disapprove a compact that validly authorizes gaming on Indian lands."
Biden's backing of the DeSantis-led compact is a somewhat stunning turn of events seeing as the Democratic President and Republican Governor have disagreed on just about everything since Biden took office in 2020.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has an unusual backer in Joe Biden. (Photo by Ronda Churchill/Getty Images)
DeSantis became a force within the Republican party during the early days of COVID, fighting to keep the state open, pushing back on school closings, and refusing to enact any sort of vaccine mandate.
In the spring, DeSantis also signed the "Parental Rights in Education" bill, which said there could be no classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
Not so surprisingly, the Biden Administration immediately pushed back on the bill, saying the Department of Education would use its power to protect students in the wake of the new law.
In any event, it appears Biden and DeSantis have at least one thing in common: they both want to put a little money on Nebraska this weekend!
OutKick The Show: Biden & DeSantis Agree On Sports Gambling
President Joe Biden and Governor Ron DeSantis are on the same side of an issue: they both want you to be able to gamble on sports in the state of Florida.