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Florida Attorney General says '2026 will be a record year' in enforcing gaming laws
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has called on lawmakers to increase penalties for abetting and operating illegal gaming in the state
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has shared that he plans to step up enforcement of the state's gaming laws regarding potentially illegal activity. Uthmeier is also pushing legislators to give him more power to prosecute such crimes.
Uthmeier stresses enforcement will increase in 2026
Uthmeier recently gave an interview to Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics and in the article, Uthmeier shared his outlook on his office's actions for the current year.
"We stand by the Compact with the Seminole Tribe," Uthmeier stated. "It's been a huge success, and it's a great way to ensure that Florida taxpayers are getting the benefit of a significant revenue share to the state, moving through an application and gaming apparatus that is highly regulated, safe and free from illicit activities. Our office is working with the Florida Legislature to increase penalties and the Gaming Commission to take down illicit markets. 2026 will be a record year in the fight against illegal gambling and the other major crime it brings to our state."
In Florida, nearly all legal gaming happens under the auspices of that compact with the Seminole Tribe. That includes the operation of several Hard Rock-themed physical casinos and the Hard Rock Bet online sportsbook.
At this time, that does not include real money online casino play. While the compact may expand in that direction in the future, Uthmeier is more interested in Florida law toughening penalties related to that type of gaming in the short term.
Uthmeier supports pushes for stricter penalties for illegal gaming
Uthmeier characterized the current penalties tied to convictions for violating Florida's gaming laws as insufficient deterrents, stating that they "make the risk-reward analysis very imbalanced."
"We're not doing enough to disincentivize people from engaging in this behavior," Uthmeier added. "People stand to make tens of millions of dollars through these operations, and getting a misdemeanor is really just a slap on the wrist."
Three bills could elevate certain convictions to felonies. That collection of proposals includes HB 189, which targets gaming in most forms, including casino games online.
Uthmeier hasn't been waiting to see if HB 189 becomes law to enforce existing statutes related to iGaming, though. He says that his office has already "issued subpoenas to several companies" as well as "looking into disrupting payment processor servers, web hosts… and access" related to unlicensed online gaming.
Even if Florida's legal gaming framework extends to iGaming in the future, it's unlikely that Floridians will be able to use offers like the DraftKings Casino bonus. That form of gaming will also be limited to the Seminole Tribe's platform, Hard Rock Bet.
If Uthmeier's enhanced efforts are successful, even more of the gaming that happens in Florida will only occur within legal means. The state legislature may help him impose those restrictions in 2026 as well.
