Untold numbers of partners have done business successfully with the tribe, and Florida residents benefit from the $132 million the tribe pays the state for enabling its gambling operations.
In addition, the tribe owns businesses from energy drinks to e-cigarettes. It operates 21 Hard Rock hotels and ten casinos in locales from Vancouver to Punta Cana.
The Seminole Tribe, in contrast, rakes in $2.2 billion annually just from gaming proceeds at its seven Florida casinos. Most governments, however, aren't operating multibillion-dollar private businesses. government, individual American states, and, yes, Indian tribes - cannot be sued unless they waive this immunity or Congress acts. law, sovereign governments - foreign nations, the U.S. When he decided to take his gripes to court, his claims were quashed by a legal concept called sovereign immunity that makes governments - including Native American ones - immune from civil lawsuits. After the last notes had died and the crowd turned for the parking lot, Candlebox left, content that the band's financial future with the Seminoles was good.īut within a month, the deal was dead and buried. For part of the show, he pulled on a traditional Seminole patchwork jacket made of bright-orange, black, and red geometric patterns - a gift from the tribe. Martin, feeding off the crowd, seemed plugged into an electric socket. Later that night, a relieved Candlebox strode onto the stage and blasted through their set list. His claims were quashed by a legal concept called sovereign immunity that makes governments - including Native American ones - immune to civil lawsuits. "He shook my hand, looked me in the eye when he said it," Mercado says today. If not, Osceola said he'd open his own wallet to cover the deal. According to separate affidavits filed by Mercado and Iudice, Osceola promised their money would be coming that week. When they wrapped up, lead singer Kevin Martin and drummer Scott Mercado met with their manager and Osceola at the side of the stage. Band members posed for grip-and-grin photos with Osceola and two other members of the Seminole tribal leadership before doing sound check at an outdoor stage.
The next day, the band prepared to play the Burgers and Beer Fest at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel. But the tribe had yet to hand over the money even though a deadline had come and gone. The musicians were worrying over their bankroll.įor months, the band had been looking forward to a partnership that their manager had sketched out: The tribe - which owns the Hard Rock brand of resorts and casinos - would front $400,000 to finance Candlebox's 33-date 20th-anniversary tour, which would include shows at Hard Rock venues, for the coming summer. But despite the outward display of nudie-bar bonhomie, the mood was off. He kept telling the musicians that Candlebox was his favorite act. Witnesses say Osceola was in fan-boy heaven. "We walked in like we owned the place," Mobile Mike would recall later. Osceola passed around Seminole-brand electronic cigarettes. Strippers flung themselves around the poles like deranged gymnasts. Then they made it to Scarlett's Cabaret, where colored lights stabbed out of the ceiling. tweet thisįirst the men stuffed themselves with crab claws, oysters, and Grand Marnier at Joe's Stone Crab on Miami Beach. Mobile Mike - a tanned radio personality whose wise-guy voice is familiar to listeners of Clear Channel radio stations across South Florida and who was then pocketing six figures a month to handle marketing for the tribe - was the captain of this particular night on the town. Chris Osceola, the stocky and handsome leader of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, was also onboard. Along for the ride: Matt Iudice, their goateed manager. On February 28, 2013, the limo swung by the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to pick up five members of the '90s alt-rock band Candlebox. The night had all the ingredients for an epic bro-down.