The Florida House of Representatives is set to look at a broad gambling proposal on Tuesday (November 18). The Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee will take up HB 189, a bill that brings some major changes to how gambling is handled in the state. It includes new criminal penalties aimed at protecting the integrity of sports betting, gives the state more power to go after illegal gambling, and officially defines and regulates daily fantasy sports contests.
The bill was introduced by Republican Representative Dana Trabulsy and would make a number of updates to Florida’s gambling laws. One of the biggest changes involves updating how the state handles bribery in sports competitions.
Florida House gambling bill would make sports bribery a felony
The bill states that any person who “stakes, bets, or wagers any money or other thing of value upon the result of any professional or amateur game, contest, match, race, or sport with knowledge that the results of such professional or amateur game, contest, match, race, or sport are prearranged or predetermined” commits “a felony of the third degree.” It comes in the wake of several sports leagues facing investigations over illegal wagering by some of their stars.
The legislation also updates and strengthens Florida’s tools for cracking down on illegal gambling operations. It targets things like slot machine trafficking and efforts to rig or manipulate games, giving the state more power to enforce the law effectively. Under the bill, a person who “knowingly and willfully transports, or procures the transportation of, five or more other persons into or within this state when he or she knows or reasonably should know that such transportation is for the purpose of facilitating illegal gambling commits a misdemeanor of the first degree.”
Under the bill, it would be a felony to transport minors or anyone aged 65 or older for the purpose of illegal gambling.
Legalization of daily fantasy sports
Another key part of HB 189 is the official recognition of daily fantasy sports. The bill creates a new section called “Fantasy sports contests; conditions for conduct,” which lays out the rules for how these contests can legally operate in the state. It defines a fantasy sports contest as one “in which a participant pays an entry fee and manages a fantasy or simulation sports team composed of athletes from a professional sports organization with the opportunity to win a cash prize.”
Fantasy contests would have to meet strict criteria to be allowed under the new rules. The proposal requires that “prizes and awards for the winning participants are established and disclosed to contest participants before entry” and that “all winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the fantasy sports contest participant.”
A winning outcome may not be based on “the score, point spread, or performance of a team or combination of teams” or “the single performance of an individual in a single event.”
Operators who don’t follow the rules could face serious penalties. The bill authorizes a fine of up to “$100,000 per violation” for any website, platform, or application offering contests unlawfully. Additionally, such an operator “commits a felony of the third degree.”
The proposal also makes a number of changes to how the Florida Gaming Control Commission is run and how it operates. It adds new reporting requirements such as “the number of complaints received by the commission categorized by subject matter or type of complaint” and “a list of property seized by the commission during the course of investigations.”
It also broadens the conflict of interest rules, banning commissioners and staff from certain activities, from working with any entity that “conducts or facilitates an activity regulated, enforced, or investigated by the commission, including fantasy sports contests and other betting activities.”
HB 189 also revises the penalties for a range of gambling-related offenses. This includes changes to how the state handles illegal slot machine possession, running gambling houses, and manipulating cardroom games. A new section makes it a first degree felony for a person who “knowingly sells, purchases, manufactures, transports, delivers, or brings into this state more than 15 slot machines or devices” with escalating fines that can reach “$500,000.”
The bill also makes it clear that the state has full authority over all gambling-related issues, reinforcing statewide control over these matters.
If the subcommittee approves HB 189, the bill will move on to other committees in the House for further review. The subcommittee meeting is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Webster Hall.
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