FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Seminole Tribe of Florida has reached a settlement with businesses operating racetracks and poker rooms regarding the dispute over exclusive online sports betting rights in the state. The announcement was made on Monday, marking the end of a lengthy legal battle.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Seminole Tribe will collaborate with West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. Instead of pursuing further legal action against the tribe’s gaming activities, the companies will partner with the tribe to offer Jai Alai wagering through the Hard Rock Bet app, owned by the tribe.

Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen emphasized the benefits of this agreement, stating that it paves the way for the involved parties to join forces in promoting Jai Alai, a sport that has been integral to Florida’s gaming history for nearly a century.

In June, the legal position of the businesses weakened significantly when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their challenge to the compact, which allows the Seminole Tribe to hold exclusive rights to online sports betting in Florida. The court’s refusal came after the Florida Supreme Court stated that the businesses had initiated the wrong procedure to contest the compact established in 2021 between the Seminole Tribe and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration.

Those companies had claimed that the compact effectively created a sports betting monopoly for the tribe in the nation’s third-largest state, arguing that the U.S. Department of Interior mistakenly approved the compact in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which mandates that gambling operations be conducted on tribal land.

A point of contention was whether online sports bets placed from throughout Florida could legitimately be classified as occurring on tribal land merely because the servers that manage the betting services are based there. The companies contended that Governor DeSantis and the Legislature overstepped their authority by allowing sports betting beyond tribal boundaries.

The Seminole Tribe initiated its online sports betting services at the end of the previous year, and projections from state economists indicate that revenue sharing from tribal gambling could reach approximately $4.4 billion by the close of this decade.