FLORIDA BETS

Peter White chats to Bill Ordine, National Gaming Reporter and Writer for FloridaBet.com

hat is your role at

WFloridaBet.com and what does it involve? I’m a national gaming reporter and writer for FloridaBet.com and its parent company Gambling.com Group’s other statespecific websites.. Largely, I write about legislative, legal and business issues regarding the online gaming industry.

Are you from a Sports Betting background? My background is as a journalist in both

ABOVE: Bill Ordine, National Gaming Reporter and Writer for FloridaBet.com sports and news, including 25 years combined at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Baltimore Sun. I’ve written about a broad range of gaming issues from casinos to sports wagering to poker to horse racing.

What was the inspiration behind the creation of FloridaBet.com? As a company we cover legal and responsible gambling in states that have already legalized sports betting and in ones we anticipate legalizing. Florida, by virtue of the compact signed between the state and Seminole

Tribe of Florida, briefly had legal sports betting before it was struck down by a Florida court. Along with California and Texas, Florida will be one of the largest sports betting states when it re-launches, so from legislative and sports betting coverage standpoints, we launched FloridaBet.com.

Can you explain the purpose and function of FloridaBet.com? FloridaBet.com aims to keep Floridians and others informed about the trajectory of legal and responsible sports wagering in that state with authoritative news updates. And while sports betting is not currently legal in the state, FloridaBet.com tracks interesting sports developments and odds as they impact on Florida’s professional and college teams and athletes.

What is the current situation as regards legislation in the Sunshine State regarding Sports Betting? Florida has become one of the more convoluted jurisdictions in America regarding the legalization of sports wagering. By now, most observers are familiar with the development that an agreement, known as a compact, hammered out between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021 – which would have given control of sports wagering to the Seminoles – was derailed in a federal court. Other gaming-related businesses had challenged the compact. Currently, the Biden Administration is arguing in favor of the Seminole-DeSantis compact in a federal appeals court. As the third largest state in the U.S., Florida would have an outsized impact on the sports wagering industry, so gambling companies have a lot riding on the outcome.

Have you any front running teams you think are in the mix to win this coming season’s Super Bowl? Quarterbacks are usually the key to winning Super Bowls and the favorites are the defending champion Los Angeles Rams, the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers because each has an MVP-caliber QB. Of that group, Buffalo is the team on the rise.

What are your aims and ambitions for the site in the coming years? We will continue to cover the progression of the appeals in the Florida sports betting case as the state continues to look to legalize sports betting. The legislature should also take another look at what can be done to create a competitive sports betting market in Florida. Most states allow more than one operator to give consumers options on where they want to place their bets. We would hope Florida would find a way to do that, creating one of the largest wagering markets in the world.

Have you anything else you would like to add? Florida has the potential to produce tax revenue for the state through sports betting. It really should look at every single option to capitalize on that potential.

FloridaBet.com is dedicated to helping sports betting customers find the most rewarding gaming experiences and generous bonuses. Our team of industry experts help consumers understand the current legislation, updates on sportsbook launches and latest sports betting news and developments throughout Florida.