Seminole Tribe Sues DraftKings Over Florida Prediction Markets

The Seminole Tribe of Florida filed a 72‑page complaint on Thursday in Broward County Circuit Court suing DraftKings, GUS III LLC (operating as DraftKings Predictions) and DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, alleging the company's prediction markets and fantasy-sports offerings operate as unlawful sports betting in Florida. The Tribe seeks an injunction blocking the products in the state, recovery of all revenue and profits earned in Florida, and includes a civil racketeering claim naming Robins.

What the complaint says about DraftKings' Florida offerings

The filing argues Floridians can wager on moneylines, point spreads, totals, player props and parlays through the DraftKings Sports & Casino app using an interface the Tribe says is nearly identical to licensed sportsbooks in other states. The Tribe asserts that DraftKings began offering sports-event prediction contracts in Florida in December 2025 and launched a Pick6 product in Florida in January 2026 before rolling out a unified Sports & Casino app nationwide in June 2026. The complaint notes that DraftKings' conventional sportsbook and online casino remain unavailable in Florida.

The Tribe contends the products are not transformed into lawful commodities trading by running DraftKings Predictions in the background. It alleges DraftKings changed how prices appeared to Florida customers on August 28, replacing traditional American odds with contract prices expressed in cents while the underlying offerings remained unchanged. The change followed guidance the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued on August 7 warning prediction-market operators that displaying prices in sportsbook-style odds could mislead customers about the nature of the contracts. The complaint quotes the company’s conduct: “DraftKings changed the label on the price. It did not change the price, the product, or the transaction.”

DraftKings is also accused of offering sports contracts to customers as young as 18, despite Florida’s minimum sports-betting age of 21, and of offering college player props that the Tribe says are prohibited under the 2021 gaming compact between the State of Florida and the Seminole Tribe.

Legal theory: compact exclusivity, racketeering and revenue recovery

The Tribe frames the dispute around the exclusive sports-betting rights it obtained under the 2021 gaming compact. That compact grants the Seminole Tribe exclusive rights to operate sports betting in Florida through Hard Rock Bet in exchange for at least $2.5 billion in payments to the state over five years. The complaint says DraftKings’ prediction-market activity undermines the exclusivity the compact affords the Tribe and seeks to enjoin the products and recover revenue and profits earned in Florida.

The complaint also brings a civil racketeering (RICO) claim against Jason Robins, alleging he personally directed the Florida expansion and pointing to his control of approximately 89% of DraftKings’ voting power. The Tribe cites DraftKings’ terms of use, which disclaim product legality in a given jurisdiction while requiring customers to confirm their own compliance.

“That DraftKings Predictions may run in the background does not transform sports wagers into ‘commodities trading,’” the complaint states, challenging the legal classification DraftKings relies on.

DraftKings’ strategy and the wider prediction‑market context

DraftKings entered prediction markets in December 2025, following rivals such as Kalshi and Polymarket. Those platforms expanded sports-event contracts nationwide and provoked litigation over whether federal commodities law preempts state regulation of sports betting after the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018. Federal appeals courts are currently split and New Jersey is seeking Supreme Court review; the legal line between commodity-contracts markets and state‑regulated sports betting remains contested.

The complaint notes DraftKings has pitched prediction markets to investors as a growth channel that can reach customers where licensed sportsbooks cannot, saying integration of Predictions into the flagship app cut customer acquisition costs by more than 80% as of April. DraftKings told investors it plans to invest $200 million to $300 million in the Predictions business this year and began reporting Sportsbook and Predictions revenue together under a single Sports category in Q2 2026. The company has argued prediction markets avoid state sportsbook taxes, which the complaint references as high as 51% in New York.

Florida litigation history and related challenges

The complaint recounts previous attempts to open Florida’s sports-betting market. DraftKings and FanDuel backed a campaign that raised $22.7 million but failed to qualify for the November 2022 ballot. The filing alleges DraftKings funded lawsuits challenging the compact, citing the West Flagler Associates litigation: a 2021 federal judge initially overturned the compact’s approval for treating mobile bets placed outside tribal lands as occurring on tribal property; a federal appeals court reversed that ruling in June 2023, allowing Hard Rock Bet to resume operations in November 2023. The Supreme Court declined to review the appeal in 2024. West Flagler later settled with the Tribe and agreed to offer jai alai wagering through Hard Rock Bet.

The Tribe also alleges DraftKings formed and funded Protect the Constitution LLC, which filed a separate 2025 lawsuit challenging Florida’s implementation of the compact. After an initial dismissal for lack of standing, DraftKings joined an amended complaint on September 17, 2025, identifying itself as that LLC’s sole member. The present complaint cites DraftKings’ admission in that litigation that Florida daily fantasy-sports revenue declined after Hard Rock Bet introduced statewide mobile betting, as customers shifted some spending to the Tribe’s sportsbook.

What this means for operators and regulators

Operators and vendors should expect litigation over prediction markets to influence product rollout and compliance assessments. The Seminole Tribe’s request for an injunction and revenue disgorgement raises the possibility that Florida-facing products similar to DraftKings Predictions could be blocked or forced to change pricing and presentation. Regulators and compliance teams will be watching how courts treat the August 28 pricing-label change and whether federal courts resolve the broader preemption question.

B2B suppliers that provide front-end interfaces, age‑verification or geolocation should prepare for heightened scrutiny in Florida and other states with exclusivity arrangements under compacts. Market participants can follow the legal developments in our regulation and b2b coverage for implications of any ruling.

Next steps in the litigation

The Broward County complaint initiates a formal state-court challenge seeking injunctive relief and disgorgement; it names specific entities and individuals—DraftKings, GUS III LLC and Jason Robins—and asserts compact-based exclusivity, racketeering, and statutory violations. The case will proceed through Florida courts while parallel federal and state litigation over prediction markets continues elsewhere, keeping the legal status of sports-event prediction contracts unsettled.