Seminole Tribe, Disney Pour Money Into Gambling Initiative

November 20, 2017

The Seminole Tribe of Florida and Disney Worldwide Services spent $1.55 million in October to back a proposed constitutional amendment that would make it harder to expand gambling in the state, according to a newly filed finance report. The money went to the political committee Voters In Charge, which is trying to get the proposal on the November 2018 ballot.

The Seminole Tribe, which operates casinos in various parts of the state, contributed $1 million in October, while Disney added $550,000, the report shows.

In all, the committee had raised $4.1 million as of Oct. 31, while spending about $3.44 million. Voters In Charge had submitted 391,783 valid petition signatures to the state and needs to submit 766,200 to get on the ballot.

The initiative would change the state Constitution and give voters the “exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling” in the state.

It would require voter approval of casino-style games in the future.

“Our message of giving Florida voters, not politicians, the ultimate authority on gambling decisions is resonating throughout Florida,” Voters In Charge Chairman John Sowinski said in a prepared statement Monday. “We are on target to complete our petition drive by year’s end, after which we will turn our full attention to building voter support for our amendment through a broad grassroots effort and robust statewide campaign.”

by The News Service of Florida

Comments

5 Responses to “Seminole Tribe, Disney Pour Money Into Gambling Initiative”

  1. M in Bratt on November 25th, 2017 4:50 am

    How about those Seminoles; They want a constitutionally protected monopoly. I hope the voters don’t fall for it

  2. Grand Locust on November 21st, 2017 9:24 am

    The Casinos most certainly do compete with discretionary entertainment dollars. A family many choose only a couple of days in a Disney resort, and spend four days at the beach. The adults rather than pouring their resources into Disney properties, enjoy the beach, restaurants, and yes a casino which many people love to visit at least once during a vacation, and yes those dollars spent in a casino will not be spent in a disney property.

  3. Jim on November 21st, 2017 7:58 am

    The casinos don’t compete with theme parks. Money spent there is in addition to what is spent at the resorts. Disney is buying a slice of the pie that they otherwise might not be able to enjoy. Believe me, if the Disney/ABC/Muppet consortium could have a casino on the park lands somewhere legally, they’d be all over it. They are most definitely all about the $$$.

  4. Anne on November 20th, 2017 1:09 pm

    @ anne 1of2

    I get why the Seminoles don’t want competition with their casinos and other gambling enterprises. They pretty much have a closed shop market on gambling in Florida, other than the religious bingo halls, lottery, poker rooms, race tracks, dog races, and the submarine races.

    What is the interest of Disney Worldwide Services though? Are they concerned that gambling would cut into the immense profits they make from the theme parks? Theirs is about the most greedy, money oriented, cutthroat operation going which appears to be for fun and family. But then there are those who remember how Disney acquired the land near Orlando and that wasn’t so nice.

    Personally, would prefer no gambling or “gaming” but it happens on everything from fishing contests to and this may be hard to believe, some even bet on college football games.

  5. anne1of2 on November 20th, 2017 11:34 am

    Huge return on investment, let’s just burn hard earned cash to make a few wealthy beyond belief.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News