Wyoming Reconsiders Vote For Online Sports Betting
Contents
HB0133
Within HB0133, it would make Wyoming a legalized sports betting market, but only for online and mobile. The Wyoming Gaming Commission would oversee and regulate the operators. Applicants would have to pay an initial fee of $100,000 and then a $50,000 renewal every five years. 10% of their revenue would be taxed. With high fees and a lackluster market, some operators could opt out of joining Wyoming in search of other markets.
Wyoming has a few notes from their bill that will appeal to the population. There are no restrictions on betting on eSports and college sports betting. That means you can bet on the University of Wyoming. Some states have banned wagering on in-state college teams. The other is that the legal age to bet on sports is 18 and not 21, where it usually is in other states. Overall the bill would allow outside sportsbooks to simply just provide a platform in the state, despite not partnering with a retail casino as that is usually the case in other states. They would operate just like an offshore sportsbook, except they’d be companies that operate in the United States.
The Reconsideration
Originally the bill was dead after a vote in the house, where there was a lot of concern for the residents in Wyoming and how sports betting can ruin lives and drive up social costs. The downside outweighed the pros for some representatives. Only hours after the vote, there was a reconsideration where a few votes were changed. The bill was then passed by the House Committee of the whole. Third reading failures usually die out with a vote, so this is fairly rare. This is a good sign for the bill moving forward, but there is still a long way to go as it needs to head to the Senate for a vote.
What Happens Next?
With every state, the legislature ends for the year in April, and for Wyoming, that is April 2nd. A vote would need to be passed and included in the 2021 budget to be approved for this year. There is currently no date for a hearing, but with that deadline looming, there should be some urgency over the next few weeks to get it done. The Senate vote is the last stop before heading to Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon. His signature would put the bill into place and kick off online-only sports betting within the state of Wyoming. There is a growing chance Wyoming could begin to approve operators before the start of the next NFL season, which tends to be a wishful deadline for many operators still looking for approval.
