A federal court of appeals has denied the Seminole Tribe’s request for an emergency motion of stay, making Florida online sports betting illegal in the Sunshine State.

The Seminole Tribe requested an emergency motion of stay after a federal judge dismissed Florida’s 30-year gaming compact. The court of appeals made its ruling late Friday afternoon, simply noting the “Appellant has not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending appeal.”

The tribe had hoped it would be allowed to continue its sports betting launch, and a planned gaming expansion at Hard Rock Casinos, throughout the lengthy appeal process.

A panel of judges voted 2-1 to not grant the emergency motion of stay.

Will Seminole Tribe halt Florida online sports betting?

The judgment came just days after the tribe submitted a response to West Flagler Associate’s argument against the tribe’s request for an emergency stay.

But as of 6 p.m. Friday evening, the Seminole Tribe was still offering online sports betting through its Hard Rock Sportsbook app. The tribe has continued to offer sports betting through the Hard Rock app since early November, even after Federal Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich effectively dismissed the 30-year Florida gaming compact after determining it violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

Daniel Wallach, principal at Wallach Legal, the country’s first sports betting-focused law firm, noted that enforcement of the ruling will be next if the tribe does not voluntarily halt sports betting.

What risks do the Seminole Tribe take?

Without the motion of stay, and by continuing to accept and process bets through its Hard Rock Sportsbook app, the Seminole Tribe may be opening itself up to a host of potential legal repercussions, Wallach previously told Saturday Down South.

“The Seminole Tribe, with every wager taken from this point on, is potentially in violation of the Wire Act and other federal statutes. The tribe has sovereign immunity with respect to their activities on tribal land. But when they engage in off-reservation gambling activities in violation of federal and state laws, they’re violating a whole suite of federal gambling laws, including the Wire Act, the Illegal Gambling Business Act, the Travel act, and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement act. Off tribal land, they’re not protected by sovereign immunity,” he said.

We’ll continue to update the story as more information comes in.