The tribe filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado on Monday. The court designated October 10 as the date for a scheduling and planning discussion. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, the case will be taken to court.

Colorado legalized statewide digital sports betting in May 2020. At the time, BetMGM, BetRivers, DraftKings, and FanDuel all launched on the same day. There are presently over 20 business platforms functioning in the state.

Federal law: Tribes entitled to offer whatever state offers

According to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), what is allowed in a state is likewise permitted on its reservations. To increase gaming alternatives, states and tribes must renegotiate compacts. Despite several attempts, Colorado has not entered into discussions with the Southern Ute tribe, which is operating under a 1995 agreement that includes a casino on their territory. The adjacent Ute Mountain Ute tribe also provides casino gambling. Chairman Baker underscored the tribe’s reluctance to take legal action, but also their desire for statewide mobile sports betting rights, requesting equitable treatment and a resolution to their continuing issue with the state.

Tribe: State has breached 1995 compact

The Southern Ute tribe claims that Colorado breached its 1995 gaming compact, which allows them to offer gaming activities and wager amounts similar to those authorized for commercial operators in the state. Despite Colorado’s legalization of statewide digital sports betting by commercial businesses, the tribe says they have been wrongfully barred from engaging in this economic potential. Chairman Baker underlined that the delay in contesting these prohibitions until sports betting was permitted in Colorado provided non-tribal gaming firms with a considerable competitive advantage in market share.

In 2020, the Southern Ute tribe collaborated with US Bookmaking to develop the Sky Ute internet sportsbook, which is housed on tribal grounds to avoid the 10% fee levied on other operators. However, the site was terminated in July 2023, causing the tribe to take legal action to recover access to the mobile sports betting industry and address what they see as unfair conduct by the state.

Latest federal decision: Bets placed where received

In a significant sports betting development, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to review the West Flagler case upholds a lower-court ruling allowing bets to be considered placed where received.This implies that bets placed through a tribe server in Florida are considered to have taken place on Seminole property. Southern Ute Chairman Melvin J Baker is pioneering the use of this appeal verdict outside of Florida, asserting precedent-setting ramifications despite its particular applicability to the 2021 Seminole-Florida treaty.

Legal experts emphasize that, while the verdict enhances tribal interests, its effectiveness is dependent on governments and tribes’ willingness to form compacts. Tribal attorney Scott Crowell cites the Florida-Seminole compact as a model for cooperative agreements under IGRA, but questions remain about a tribe’s power to persuade hostile governments to change compacts for mobile gambling.

The tribe’s case contends that Colorado’s reasons are financial, claiming that the state’s imposition of a 10% tax on regulated sports betting affects tribal gaming, which is exempt from such taxation under federal law, limiting their involvement in internet sports betting.