As the fate of legal sports betting in Florida hangs in the balance in (virtual) courtrooms from Washington, D.C., to Tallahassee, Fla., the real battle is taking place in theaters far outside the halls of justice. Signature gatherers, the people who ask us all to sign petitions in favor of or against everything from the use of medical marijuana to whether or not the Pledge of Allegiance may be uttered in schools, are out in force at Florida’s county fairs, football games, college campuses, and local grocery stores.
In what many in Florida have characterized as the most contentious signature-gathering effort in the state’s history, two groups are trying to gather a total of more than 2 million signatures in less than six months to get gaming expansions on the ballot. The Las Vegas Sands Corp. is pushing a proposal that would allow it to build three brick-and-mortar casinos, while a group of commercial sports betting operators, including DraftKings and FanDuel, is trying to get legal statewide mobile wagering on the ballot.
In addition, the Seminole Tribe, which doesn’t have a proposal it’s prepping for the ballot, is gathering signatures in symbolic support of its 2021 gaming compact. That effort serves in part to muddy the water for the official proposals. The new compact, approved by the state legislature in May and the U.S. Department of the Interior in August, has since been deemed illegal by a federal court. While the legality of the compact is in question,...
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday accused the TMC of making false claims that the BJP would stop consumption of meat and fish if it wins the assembly polls in West Bengal. Addres...
