Opinion ID: 1944696
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Restrictions on Dissemination

Text: Section 550.6305(9)(g)(1) of the Florida Statutes requires: Any thoroughbred permitholder which accepts wagers on a simulcast signal must make the signal available to any permitholder that is eligible to conduct intertrack wagering under the provisions of [this act]. § 550.6305(9)(g)(1), Fla. Stat. (2005). Tampa Bay Downs receives simulcast signals from out-of-state tracks and accepts wagers on the races contained in those signals. Under the clear dictates of section 550.6305(9)(g)(1), TBD must make the[se] signal[s] available to any permitholder eligible to conduct intertrack wagering. Id. To the extent that Gulfstream, pursuant to the terms of the exclusive dissemination agreements, attempts to prevent TBD from making these simulcast signals available to eligible intertrack wagering facilities, such action clearly collides and interferes with the obligations of TBD under this statutory provision. Therefore, we conclude that section 550.6305(9)(g)(1) of Florida's pari-mutuel statutory scheme prohibits enforcement of the provisions in Gulfstream's exclusive dissemination agreements that would operate to prevent TBD from complying with this statutory requirement. In addition to the plain meaning of section 550.6305(9)(g)(1), the DPW's declaratory statement also supports TBD's assertion that the exclusivity provisions of Gulfstream's exclusive dissemination agreements violate Florida law by attempting to prohibit any dissemination by TBD of out-of-state simulcast signals. As the federal district court correctly reasoned, [i]n Florida, courts give great deference to the interpretation of a statute by an administrative agency charged with the statute's enforcement. Gulfstream, 294 F.Supp.2d at 1300 (citing Donato v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 767 So.2d 1146, 1153-54 (Fla.2000)). The DPW concluded that section 550.6305(9)(g)(1) requires TBD to make the simulcast signals that it receives and upon which intertrack wagers are conducted available to other pari-mutuel facilities in the state. With this plain meaning application of section 550.6305(9)(g)(1) and recognition of the declaratory statement issued by the DPW, based exclusively upon an analysis of this statutory provision, the answer to the certified question would be in the affirmative. However, we must also address other applicable statutory provisions.