Florida’s sports betting market may be about to get a lot more interesting, with Hard Rock’s chairman opening the door to partnerships with commercial sportsbooks.
Hard Rock has the monopoly on sports betting in the state, winning the exclusive tribal gaming compact following a hard-fought battle against Flutter-owned FanDuel, DraftKings and Penn Entertainment. The sportsbooks mounted a massive effort in 2021 to get sports betting legalized in the state, but failed.
When asked about comments made by FanDuel CEO Amy Howe on trying again to get into the Florida market, Hard Rock International Chairman and Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen said he’s open to it.
“I would say whether it’s FanDuel or whether it’s DraftKings, we’ve actually developed a great relationship with them,” he said in an interview with CNBC at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.
Allen says he’s met with both companies over the past two days.
“We do recognize that long term, some type of strategic relationship with some of the brands that really have marquee value could be helpful to both of us, and we are receptive to those conversations,” he said.
At Flutter’s investor day two weeks ago, Howe said she’s focused on three key super states: California, Florida and New York.
FanDuel and DraftKings declined to comment on the possibility of entering into a deal with Hard Rock.
Operators have been eyeing the Sunshine State for years. Florida has a bigger population than New York state, which brings in the most sports betting revenue, according to the American Gaming Association. And it has more than 20 professional and Division 1 college sports teams in the state.
Last December at Seminole Hard Rock, the company marked what it called “a new chapter in Florida gaming,” when it launched sports betting and expanded the casino table games across six Seminole Casinos in Florida.
Allen declined to give specifics on sports gaming revenue in Florida on the basis that the tribe is a sovereign nation.