Seminole Tribe to Pay Florida $6.8 Billion for Blackjack Rights
By Jerry Hart
]Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The Seminole Tribe of Florida will pay the state $6.8 billion over 20 years for the right to offer blackjack card games at its seven casinos under an agreement signed by Governor Charlie Crist.
The accord will provide the state at least $150 million a year as well as a share of revenue from the games, Crist said in a news release today from Tallahassee, the state capital.
An agreement Crist made with the tribe in 2007 for $150 million in yearly payments was rejected by the state Supreme Court because it wasn’t approved by the legislature. The income from the original accord was part of a package of new revenue and spending cuts that closed a $2.5 billion deficit in the $66.5 billion fiscal 2010 budget that began in July.
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