DeSantis-Backed Florida Bill Could Strengthen Hard Rock’s Gaming Hand

A bill supported by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to change the method of signature collections for ballot initiatives, which has yet to be heard in the state’s special legislative session, has the potential to strengthen Hard Rock’s virtual monopoly of the gaming market in the Sunshine State.

The GOP-led Florida legislature did not bring up the bill Monday, and some lawmakers from DeSantis’ own party feel the issue is better suited to be addressed in the regular assembly session in March. DraftKings and FanDuel contributed to one such ballot initiative for a vote on sports betting in 2022 via the Florida Education Champions, but finished more than 375,000 signatures short of the roughly 891,600 needed.

DeSantis and Hard Rock have withstood multiple legal challenges at both the state and federal levels regarding adjustments made to the state compact in 2021 that legalized mobile sports wagering, roulette, and craps. The 30-year compact called for the Seminole Tribe to provide the state at least $2.5 billion in the first five years of its duration. Hard Rock is also slated to open a new casino in Brighton Bay in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area Feb. 6.

DeSantis is supporting a bill that would eliminate the third-party collection of petition forms and implement the same verification measures currently used for voting. Third-party signature gathering is the primary method campaigns utilize when bringing ballot initiatives forward. Initiatives require verified signatures equaling at least 8% of the population to be placed on the ballot.

It could bring headaches to President Trump, too

The bill, if passed, could indirectly impact President Donald Trump, who defeated the Florida governor in the 2016 and 2024 Republican presidential primaries. Trump, a one-time casino magnate in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has considered adding a casino to his golf property in Doral, but the DeSantis-backed legislation would create significant and potential costly hurdles in any forthcoming Trump casino effort.

Hard Rock cannot directly challenge a casino being built in Doral per compact rules because it is more than 15 miles in a straight line from its Hollywood property.

The Florida state constitution requires any gaming expansion to take place via voter approval through a constitutional amendment initiated by citizens. Once on the ballot, there is a 60% threshold required for legalization — a challenging figure for initiative supporters to reach.

Supporters for legalizing medicinal marijuana and changes to minimum wage laws were victorious in recent years. Supporters of protecting abortion rights and recreational marijuana legalization, however, failed last November when DeSantis actively campaigned against both issues.

The biggest change in the proposed bill is limiting how signatures can be added to just two methods. One is in which an elector appears at the Supervisors of Elections (SOE) office and presents qualifying personal identification information. The other is by mail in which an elector requests a petition form and provides qualifying information after the SOE mails the petition to the address submitted by an elector.

While Trump and DeSantis were intense political rivals during the 2024 Republican primary, their relationship has appeared at least functional in the first weeks of Trump’s second presidency.