Seminole Tribe Sues DraftKings and CEO Jason Robins in Broward, Calling Its Florida Prediction Markets an Illegal Sportsbook

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has sued DraftKings and its chief executive, Jason Robins, accusing the Boston-based gaming company of running an unlicensed sportsbook in Florida through products it markets as prediction markets and fantasy contests. The 72-page complaint, filed Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Broward County Circuit Court, asks a judge to bar DraftKings from offering or advertising sports wagering in the state and to force it to give up the money it has made from Florida customers.

The lawsuit brings the national fight over sports prediction markets squarely to Florida. The Tribe holds exclusive rights to statewide online sports betting under its 2021 gaming compact with Florida and operates the Hard Rock Bet app. It also names GUS III LLC, the entity doing business as DraftKings Predictions. Some reports said the case was filed Wednesday; most coverage dates it to Thursday.

What the Tribe alleges

The complaint targets DraftKings Pick6 and the sports offerings available to Florida users through the DraftKings Sports and Casino app. According to the lawsuit, Floridians can use the app to bet on moneylines, point spreads, game totals, player performances and parlays that combine multiple outcomes. The Tribe argues those products function like a traditional sportsbook regardless of whether DraftKings describes them as prediction markets or event contracts.

DraftKings does not hold a Florida sportsbook license, the lawsuit says. The company's own website states that DraftKings Sportsbook and Casino are not available in Florida, and it describes what Florida users can access as prediction markets, free-to-play pools, pick'em contests and horse racing. The Tribe disputes that distinction and accuses DraftKings of misleading consumers into believing the products are legal and regulated in Florida.

The complaint also argues that Florida users of the DraftKings products lack consumer protections that apply to licensed wagering, including age verification, responsible gaming limits and restrictions on certain college player propositions, according to Fox 13's review of the filing.

Robins named personally

The Tribe alleges that Robins personally directed the launch and expansion of the Florida offerings. In one passage, the complaint says Robins specifically directed DraftKings to focus on "states that do not have legal online sports betting" when deciding where to roll out the products. The filing also cites a remark by Robins that customers do not really understand the difference between prediction products and a traditional sportsbook.

The lawsuit portrays Florida as a market DraftKings has been trying to enter for years. It says Robins mounted a campaign to dismantle the state's gaming laws, spending more than $20 million on ballot initiatives to legalize the company's sports betting business and secretly funding a series of legal challenges to the compact. The ballot effort, run with FanDuel under the name Florida Education Champions, sought a 2022 constitutional amendment but failed to qualify. Contribution records from that period showed DraftKings put about $22.7 million into the committee and FanDuel nearly $14.5 million.

The Tribe alleges that after the ballot drive collapsed, DraftKings covertly funded lawsuits aimed at destabilizing the compact, including the West Flagler Associates challenge that ended when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear it in 2024.

Five counts and the relief sought

The complaint contains five counts:

• An action to stop alleged illegal gambling in Florida
• A claim under Florida's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act against Robins
• A violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act
• Common-law unfair competition
• A request for a declaration that Pick6 and the app-based sports products are illegal gambling under Florida law

The Tribe is seeking an injunction barring DraftKings from operating, advertising or processing sports wagers in Florida, disgorgement of profits and revenue earned in the state, nominal damages, attorneys' fees and interest. Its lawyers said they plan to ask the court for permission to pursue punitive damages later. The complaint says any money recovered would go to consumer protection and problem gambling treatment, prevention and recovery programs.

The amount DraftKings has earned from Florida customers has not been established in court filings, and no hearing date on the requested injunction had been set as of Thursday.

DraftKings and DeSantis respond

DraftKings had not filed a response in court as of Thursday. A company spokesperson said its prediction markets operate under the federal framework of the Commodity Exchange Act, and described Pick6 as a peer-to-peer fantasy product built on a "more or less" format tied to athlete performance rather than sports betting, Fox 13 reported. The company said it respects the Tribe's sovereignty but remains confident in its legal position.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who negotiated the 2021 compact, was asked about the lawsuit at a press conference in Miami on Thursday. He said he had not read the complaint and had only learned of it that morning, but said the agreement with the Tribe clearly contemplated that the Seminoles would control sports betting in Florida, according to Fox 13. DeSantis has previously questioned whether platforms such as Kalshi conflict with the Tribe's exclusive rights under the compact.

Why the compact matters to Florida

The 2021 compact, approved by the Legislature and the federal government, gave the Tribe exclusive rights to offer online sports betting statewide, with wagers processed through servers on tribal land. The deal runs through 2051. In exchange, the Tribe shares gaming revenue with the state and guaranteed Florida a minimum of $2.5 billion in payments during the first five years.

The compact survived years of litigation. A federal judge in Washington set aside its approval in late 2021, halting Hard Rock Bet weeks after launch, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed that ruling in 2023. The Florida Supreme Court rejected a separate challenge, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the West Flagler case in 2024. Hard Rock Bet has operated statewide since its return.

The Tribe's flagship property, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood, sits in Broward County, where the lawsuit was filed.

The national fight over prediction markets

The Florida case lands in the middle of a broader legal war over sports event contracts offered by companies registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Kalshi and the CFTC argue that those contracts are swaps under the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction, which would preempt state gambling laws.

Federal appeals courts have split. In April 2026, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that New Jersey likely cannot regulate Kalshi's sports contracts because federal commodities law preempts state law. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reached a different result in a Nevada case. The CFTC has sued three states it views as improperly applying gambling laws to federally overseen products, New York sued Kalshi in July, and Arizona filed criminal charges against Kalshi in March.

Florida has not imposed restrictions on prediction markets, and several platforms, including DraftKings Predictions, Kalshi, Polymarket and FanDuel Predicts, are available to Florida users. By suing in state court under state law, the Tribe is asking a Florida judge to treat DraftKings' products as gambling rather than federally regulated financial contracts. DraftKings could seek to move the case to federal court or argue federal preemption as a defense.

What's next

DraftKings will have an opportunity to respond to the complaint in Broward County Circuit Court. The Tribe's request for an injunction would require a hearing before a judge, and no date had been set. Any ruling on whether federal commodities law shields DraftKings Predictions could also be shaped by how the U.S. Supreme Court handles the circuit split, an issue that may reach the justices as the state cases move through appeals.