TAMPA, Fla. — The Seminole Tribe of Florida and Seminole Gaming relaunched mobile sports betting Tuesday on a limited basis via Hard Rock Bet ahead of in-person betting at its casinos in Florida starting in early December.

What You Need To Know

On the Hard Rock Bet website, the company posted information about how to place sports bets on mobile devices as part of an early-access program that it indicates it is using to test the app. Hard Rock Bets is a sports book that operates as part of the Hard Rock casino business. Only customers who previously bet on sports with Hard Rock in 2021 can place bets immediately.

According to the website, those customers can download or open the all-new Hard Rock Bet app and log back into their account with the same credentials they used previously and begin placing bets. Sports bettors must be in Florida and be at least 21 years old.

Florida lawmakers approved legislation making mobile sports betting legal in May 2021, and the Seminole Tribe briefly offered mobile gaming later that year.

But some groups filed lawsuits within the state, saying the measure violated a constitutional amendment requiring voter approval or the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and the tribe shut down its mobile gaming pending legal challenges.

After the U.S. Supreme Court recently approved the removal of a temporary hold on the gambling deal reached in 2021 by the tribe and the state, the Seminole Tribe of Florida announced plans on Nov. 1 to move forward with in-person sports betting, along with other casino games in early December. The games will debut at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa on Dec. 8; in South Florida on Dec. 7, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood and Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.

On Monday, Dec. 11, the new games will launch at Seminole Casino Immokalee, near Naples, and Seminole Brighton Casino, on the northwest side of Lake Okeechobee.

As part of the early-access program, Hard Rock customers who signed up for Hard Rock's Unity program by Nov. 6 can download the Hard Rock Bet app and log in with the same credentials they use for the Unity program. They will be granted access to place mobile sports bets in about an hour, according to the Hard Rock Bet website.

People who signed up for Unity starting Nov. 7 or after must visit a Hard Rock or Seminole casino and earn 1+ Unity point by playing live casino games. They can then download and sign in to the Hard Rock Bet app using their Unity credentials to get on a wait list and will be notified when they can start placing sports bets.