The Future of Daily Fantasy Sports in Florida

In April 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State.¹ The compact gave the Seminole Tribe the exclusive control over sports betting and Class III gaming in the state.² However, the compact distinctly places the operation of Fantasy Sports Contests under an exception to the exclusivity clause.³ This exception ensured the proper operation of popular fantasy apps such as Sleeper or ESPN, which allow users to draft a roster of players from major professional sports leagues and manage those rosters throughout the season to compete in head-to-head matchups against other users. The compact defines “Fantasy Sports Contests” to mirror this traditional setup of fantasy sports.⁴ The definitions clearly states the winning outcome of a fantasy sports contest must not be “based on the score, point spread, or any performance or performances of any single actual team or combination of teams, solely on any single performance of an individual athlete.”⁵ This definition could cause challenges for the operation of a subset of fantasy sports, daily fantasy sports. 

Popular daily fantasy sports apps such as Draft Kings, Betr, Underdog Fantasy, and FanDuel all potentially violate the compact by providing daily lines to users based directly on player performance.⁶ These apps often allow users to attempt to predict the correct outcome of individual player performances, asking users to select an outcome higher or lower than a listed projection.⁷ Daily fantasy sports apps call these games Pick’em Contests, and users may be monetarily compensated for correct predictions, essentially forming a sports bet under disguise of fantasy sports.⁸ 

Florida does not currently regulate daily fantasy sports, allowing these apps to operate under a legal gray area.⁹ There is a strong argument that these apps violate the gaming compact, yet the Seminole Tribe and the State have not been successful in shutting these apps down. The Florida Gaming Control Commission attempted to exercise control over the industry in 2023 by issuing cease-and-desist letters to three daily fantasy sports operators Betr, Underdog Sports, and Prize Picks.¹⁰ Florida Senator Travis Hutson even attempted to regulate daily fantasy sports in Florida through SB 1568 in January 2024, but the bill was never called to the floor, and it died during the legislative session.¹¹ The bill would have allowed for peer-to-peer games and traditional draft competitions, but would have eliminated contest operators from being a participant in the contest that operator offers, thus strictly prohibiting the daily fantasy setup.¹² These actions by state actors show a need to regulate this area, but the repeated failure to regulate it keeps the door open for daily fantasy sports operators to operate in Florida. 

Daily fantasy sports apps seem to successfully circumvent the current framework that is supposed to grant the Seminole Tribe exclusive rights to sports betting in Florida under the 2021 gaming compact. Daily fantasy sports app operators often contest allegations of  violations by arguing their games fall within the definition of traditional fantasy sports contests¹³ and rely on skill rather than mere chance, but these pick’em style games clearly closely mirror the traditional player prop bet.¹⁴

While people may disagree with the policy granting the Seminole Tribe a de facto monopoly over sports betting in Florida, the exclusivity of the Tribe over sports betting is a clearly expressed right granted to them through the gaming compact. The Tribe has not been afraid to cease payments to the State due to third party violations of the previous gaming deal, costing Florida millions in the process.¹⁵ The Tribe could be within their rights to once again cease any payments to the State over this violation of the compact. The operation of daily fantasy sports in Florida circumvents the agreement between the two parties, and it is only a matter of time before Florida lawmakers regulate the loophole to keep the revenue sharing agreement with the Seminole Tribe intact. But for now, daily fantasy sports lives in Florida to play another day. 

Sources

[1] Governor Ron DeSantis Strikes Historic Gaming Compact with Seminole Tribe of Florida, Executive Office of the Governor (April 23, 2021), https://www.flgov.com/eog/news/press/2021/governor-ron-desantis-strikes-historic-gaming-compact-seminole-tribe-florida.

[2], [3], [4], [5] 2021 Gaming Compact Between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida, Office of Governor Ron DeSantis, at 57, https://www.flgov.com/eog/sites/default/files/press/2021%20Gaming%20Compact.pdf.

[6], [7], [8] Eric Cohen, Florida Sports Betting and Best DFS Sites in 2025, CBS SPORTS (Oct. 30, 2025), https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/florida/.

[9], [13] Greg Payton and Marc Weintraub, In Florida and Elsewhere, Officials Target Latest Fantasy Sports Games, Stinson (April 29, 2024), https://www.stinson.com/newsroom-publications-in-florida-and-elsewhere-officials-target-latest-fantasy-sports-games.

[10] Brian Burgess, Cease and Desist: Florida Warns Three Fantasy Sports Betting Apps to Shut Down, The Capitolist (Sep. 23, 2023), https://thecapitolist.com/cease-and-desist-florida-warns-three-fantasy-sports-betting-apps-to-shut-down/#:~:text=Cease%20and%20desist:%20Florida%20warns%20three%20fantasy,the%20future%20of%20sports%20wagering%20in%20Florida.

[11], [12] Robert Linnehan, Florida Daily Fantasy Sports Bills Now Dead, Saturday Down South (Mar. 7, 2024), https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/news/sports/florida-daily-fantasy-sports-bills-now-dead/.

[14] See What is Prop Betting? How Prop Bets Work, Types & Examples, FOX SPORTS (Sep. 22, 2025) https://www.foxsports.com/stories/betting/prop-betting.

[15] Seminole Tribe Stops Making Monthly $33 Million Payment To State; 'No Surprise' To Florida Senate President, CBS Miami (May 14, 2019), https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/seminole-tribe-stops-making-monthly-33-million-to-state-no-surprise-to-florida-senate-president/.