Wyoming lawmakers take steps to further restrict online gambling
Wyoming lawmakers advanced a bill to ban online sweepstakes games, making operation a felony, amid record gambling wagers.Summary
Wyoming lawmakers are moving to further restrict online gambling. The Select Committee on Gaming unanimously sponsored draft legislation that would ban online sweepstakes games—drawings where prizes are awarded purely by chance—and make operating them a felony. Currently, online casinos are illegal in Wyoming, but online sports betting and fantasy sports are legal, and the law on online sweepstakes is unclear, causing regulatory confusion between the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Unit and the Wyoming Gaming Commission over which agency should handle complaints. Gaming Commission head Nicholas Larramendy said the bill would clarify that online sweepstakes are illegal gambling. Online sweepstakes are often designed to resemble online casinos, noted former state Sen. Affie Ellis, an attorney representing Bally's Corporation, but they are fundamentally different: sweepstakes are free to play and treated as promotional advertising under the Consumer Protection Act. Attorney Bill Gantz, representing gaming company VGW, argued the ban is overly broad and conflicts with the legality of sweepstakes tied to purchases, noting VGW has operated in Wyoming since 2012. Gambling activity has surged, with about $2.7 billion wagered last year and 2026 projected to exceed $3 billion, prompting the 2025 creation of the legislative task force. In addition to the sweepstakes ban, lawmakers sponsored legislation to update fingerprinting requirements for certain people regulated by the Wyoming Gaming Commission.
(Source：Wyoming Tribune Eagle)