Is Sports Betting A Crime In Florida?
Ask any party pooper, and they will tell you that the things that are supposed to be the most fun are really the biggest sources of anxiety. If your kids believe in Santa Claus, then Christmas Eve is a white-knuckle marathon of staying drunk enough not to lose your temper during dinner with your in-laws and your kids’ over-the-top efforts to resist falling asleep, but sober enough to stay awake after your kids fall asleep and thereupon to convey the presents to their correct location under the tree. Whenever you enjoy a new movie, attention-hungry influencers quickly take to their social media channels to post reaction videos trashing it, thereby ruining your enjoyment of it. Even if you go when the weather is mild, Disney World has not been fun since you attained the age of being able to read a bank statement and being responsible for decisions about the money in the account. By this logic, sports represent a perfect alchemy of fun and buzzkills. If you are a party pooper, then competition is only fun when you win, and teammates are only your friends when your team wins. Watching sports is the only pure enjoyment left in the world. At least, it was until sports betting entered the picture. Turning sports into a betting enterprise has made a fun pastime into just another side hustle, ruining friendships; even watching a game alone in your living room is stressful instead of relaxing when you stand to lose money. The spectators are not the ones who face the biggest legal troubles when sports bets go wrong. Here, our Miami white collar crime lawyer explains how a professional basketball player ended up in legal trouble after police suspected him of faking an injury to benefit the people who had placed bets on a game he was playing.
Is Sports Betting Legal in Florida?
Some states have launched initiatives to legalize sports betting, and only some of these have been successful. In Florida, a law allowing for app-based sports betting went into effect in November 2023. As of December 2025, the only app where Floridians can legally bet on professional sports games is Hard Rock Bet. Exceptions to Florida’s gambling laws apply at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood, since it is located on tribal land.
Miami Heat Player Faces Criminal Charges for Role in Alleged Sports Betting Conspiracy
Even in jurisdictions where betting on poker games, slot machines, and the like are legal, there are laws against cheating in gambling. For gambling to be fair, winning has to be based on skill, luck, or some combination thereof, not because one player has an unfair advantage. It is the same logic that bans insider trading on the stock exchange. In other words, it is against the law to share confidential information with certain bettors to give their bets an advantage or to place bets based on the receipt of information that has only been shared with insiders.
In the past few years, the NBA has been plagued by investigations into illegal betting. These have resulted in criminal charges against several players and other defendants accused of conspiring against them. Most recently, Terry Rozier of the Miami Heat pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. The charges stem from a game in March 2023, when Rozier was playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Rozier allegedly informed bettors that he would leave the game early, and they placed their bets based on this tip. Several minutes into the game, Rozier left the court, complaining of a foot injury; he did not play again for the rest of the season.
After his arrest, the court set Rozier’s bond at $3 million. He posted bond, securing the bond with two real estate properties, including his residence in Miami. While he is free on bond and his case is pending, he may only travel between Florida, Ohio, and New York, the places where his closest family members live. Pursuant to the rules of pretrial discovery, prosecutors gave defendants the evidence they plan to present, so that the defense may present its own interpretation of it; in Rozier’s case, the evidence includes thousands of pages of documents and many gigabytes of computer files. Rozier’s criminal defense lawyer said that he plans to persuade the court to dismiss the criminal case against Rozier; if this happens, Rozier must still engage in arbitration with the NBA over civil matters.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for sports betting. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Source:
espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47248882/miami-heat-terry-rozier-pleads-not-guilty-sports-betting-charges
