Written by :
Published on :
If you are a sports bettor residing in Florida, odds are good you were watching Monday Night Football with the Miami Dolphins winning their seventh straight game after starting the season 1-7. And it was during that game that those infamous "Watch Out Florida" ads continued airing locally.
Here is the new Watch Out Florida #gambling ad featuring the seniors. pic.twitter.com/DLEf2Md5Gl
— gambling911 (@gambling911) December 9, 2021
The latest pair of ads target college age individuals and seniors, respectively, and appear as 15 second bookends with two unrelated commercials airing in between. These types of advertisements are said to garner "80% attention for about 60% of the dollars".
The commercials warn not to sign petitions from outside gambling firms. In this case, these outside firms are Las Vegas Sands, DraftKings and FanDuel.
The petition in question seeks to have a ballot initiative for the 2022 Election in an effort to allow mobile sports betting. In Florida, the voters must decide on any form of gambling expansion per a prior ballot initiative pushed by none other than the Seminoles, the same entity behind the ads warning not to sign any petitions.
If this all sounds a bit convoluted, it is.
Sampling of Seminole anti petition ads for gambling expansion: We’re not for sale. https://t.co/Vy7cN1B8bl
— gambling911 (@gambling911) December 9, 2021
The Seminoles wish to maintain their gambling monopoly in the Sunshine State but they probably cannot offer mobile sports betting without a ballot initiative. They don't want FanDuel or DraftKings invading the Florida market after witnessing both companies stranglehold on New Jersey sports betting.
As for the Las Vegas Sands, they just want to establish a new casino in the state.
Despite what is widely viewed as a monopoly, the Seminoles are not the only gambling operators in Florida. Magic Casino's parent company sued the tribe and won, preventing the Seminoles from continuing their short-lived mobile sports betting platform.
The petition drive is expected to fail with a deadline next month and reports suggest the effort has not come close to garnering the 891,589 verified signatures needed.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
