BFRBriefings from the Rotunda Nick Iarossi signs on with bestbet to add slots in Jacksonville With the state of gambling in Florida in flux, Nick Iarossi of Capital City Consulting has picked up Jacksonville Greyhound Racing as a client. Iarossi knows the industry. He represented Las Vegas Sands Corp. as it tried for years to get a destination casino resort in Florida, finally giving up last year. His new client — better known as bestbet Jacksonville — offers live dog racing, a card room, and simulcast wagering. But the pari-mutuel also wants slot machines, and poured millions into supporting a Duval County voter referendum to allow it to offer slots to customers that passed in the General Election. The track also was in the news recently after state gambling regulators issued a final order against its designated player games. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation said the poker-style 50 | INFLUENCE WINTER 2016 games played too much like “banked card games” allowed only at the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s casinos. Iarossi told INFLUENCE he had hoped the department would have waited for an appeal of that order before enforcing it, but added his client would modify the card games to make sure they followed the new interpretation of the law. “We’re sure we can implement any changes necessary,” he said. In fact, one of his tasks is ensuring state government doesn’t chip any further at the lucrative card games, which bring millions into bestbet’s corporate coffers. Another job during the 2017 Legislative Session will be protecting the company’s overall interests as lawmakers again tee up consideration of a renewed Seminole Compact, which would extend the tribe’s ability to keep offering blackjack. The new compact was worth $3 billion over seven years in revenue share to the state, but also contained key provisions that critics said would expand gambling in Florida, such as allowing the tribe to offer craps and roulette. But lawmakers trying to appease pari- mutuels, such as horse and dog tracks, added on even more measures to expand gambling, including slot machines and card games. That ensured its demise among legislators shy of seeming too cozy with gambling interests. At the same time, the Florida Supreme Court is now considering a case over whether a Gadsden County track, Gretna Racing, can have slot machines because voters there approved them in a local referendum in 2012. A favorable ruling could benefit Duval’s desire for slots, now that the referendum has passed, or help to kill it if the court rules against slots expansion. “If Gretna can’t have slots, the reality is the Legislature still has to pass a compact, and there will have to be some concessions for pari-mutuel operators,” Iarossi said. “They’re large employers and they’ve been around for decades,” he added. “It will be difficult politically to get enough votes without providing some sort of benefit to them.” PHOTO: Via floridapolitics.com After voters approved a referendum, bestbet seeks to add slot machines to its gambling operations in Jacksonville.
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