Posted on: December 2, 2024, 06:18h.
Last updated on: December 2, 2024, 06:18h.
A Wyoming policymaker is expected to reintroduce iGaming legislation in 2025, potentially positioning the state to join the small group that currently permits that form of wagering.
On the heels of a gaming expansion study sponsored by the Wyoming Gaming Commission (WGC), Rep. Robert Davis (R-District 47) indicated he will refile iGaming legislation in 2025. That after the study commissioned by the WGC and performed by Spectrum Gaming showed online casinos would be a boon for state coffers and unlikely to cannibalize other forms of betting in the state. Earlier this year, Davis introduced House Bill 0120 (HB0120), which would have permitted iGaming in Wyoming, but ultimately faltered.
An act relating to gaming; authorizing interactive gaming; providing for regulation by the Wyoming gaming commission; imposing fees; providing for the collection and distribution of revenues from interactive gaming; providing for a continuous appropriation; requiring rulemaking; providing penalties; and providing for effective dates,” according to text of the bill.
Some tribal gaming leaders in the state have expressed concern about iGaming, but Davis’s prior bill provided avenues through which Wyoming tribal operators could participate in internet casinos. Wyoming’s 2025 legislative session convenes on Jan. 14.
Why Wyoming Matters in iGaming
Currently, just seven states — Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia — allow internet casinos. While Wyoming’s status as the smallest state by population might appear to not be exciting to the industry when it comes to iGaming, it’s worth noting that Rhode Island and Delaware are just the 44th and 45th-largest states, respectively.
Should Wyoming approve internet casinos and be among the first states to do so next year, it could signal momentum on the legislative front for that form of betting — something that was absent from the gaming landscape in 2024.
Some gaming industry executives believe 2025 will be more active regarding state-level iGaming legislation, but they’ve been reluctant to identify which states appear most likely to approve online casinos in the new year.
Obviously, the industry’s preference is for larger states, such as Illinois and New York, to do so, but Wyoming would represent progress and there are a multiple states that need new revenue sources, of which iGaming is one.
Speaking of Revenue…
Wyoming ran an impressive budget surplus in fiscal 2024, but the state is one of several that doesn’t impose income tax, meaning new revenue sources could be a plus for the state. The state’s primary sources of revenue are levies on mineral rights, property taxes, consumption taxes and levies on energy generation, including nuclear and wind.
The Spectrum Gaming study indicated that in its first year, iGaming in the Cowboy State could lead to total activity of $93 million to $138 million with that figure growing to $162 million and $199 million in the fifth year of operation.
Based on those forecasts, the state would realize new revenue of $20 million to $30 million in the first year and up to $40 million in year five.
