Seminole Tribe Drops Lawsuit To Keep Earnings Secret

seminole tribe
Image: SaintPetersBlog.com

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has a pretty good point in its lawsuit against the state, even if the fight is now meaningless.

Florida’s Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering apparently inadvertently released documents that included details of the tribe’s casino revenues, and on Wednesday the tribe filed suit to stop the information from going further.

Still, web site Politico hustled out a story on Friday, with this news flash: HEY! THE SEMINOLES MAKE A LOT OF MONEY! Welcome to Florida, boys.

With the cat out of the bag, the tribe dropped its suit Friday afternoon.

Back in 2010 when the Seminoles and the state reached a $1 billion compact, a portion of that agreement included guidelines for keeping some tribe financial info confidential. Public records requests regarding the Seminoles have routinely included redactions.

But the fact is, we pretty much know how the tribe is doing. I figured it out myself back in 2014, criss-crossing state and local tax documents. The state said the Seminoles made about $2.1 billion. Local government received pro-rated payments based on the profitability of the seven casinos. I had the Tampa casino making about $900 million and the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood about $528 million.

Seminole CEO James Allen’s testimony didn’t even break it down by casino.

So the Seminoles’ request probably was an over-reaction. Or, more likely, they were just playing hardball.

[vc_btn title=”More on the Seminole Tribe” style=”outline” color=”primary” size=”lg” align=”left” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fsouthfloridagambling.com%2Fpolitico-seminoles-suit%2F|title:More%20on%20the%20Seminole%20Tribe|target:%20_blank”][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” message_box_color=”turquoise”]Nick Sortal, SouthFloridaGambling.com, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com May 14, 2016[/vc_message]
Nick Sortal is semi-retired after 35 years as a newspaper writer and editor, with 30 of those years dedicated to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He spent the majority of his career as a community news writer and editor, delving into the issues and topics most newsworthy to local residents. He has a reputation for being fair – weighing every sides of an issue – and checked and re-checked information almost to the point of being annoying