Round Two, What The 2nd WY Sports Betting Bill Hearing Entailed

• The House Floor heard a second reading of WY HB 0225 to legalize sports betting in Wyoming.
• Under the bill, internet and mobile sportsbooks would be accessible by the residents of the Cowboy State.
• There is no written number of licenses within the bill for individuals and their businesses that wish to operate sportsbooks in Wyoming.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – WY HB 0225, a bill to make mobile and internet sports betting in Wyoming legal, took the House floor on Wednesday.

The first reading of the bill occurred with the House Appropriations Committee on February 19 where it passed 45-12-3. It then went on to the House floor for a vote with the Committee of the Whole (CoW) where it again passed.

Legal Sports Betting In Wyoming

Bill WY HB 0225 would allow residents of Wyoming to bet on sports matchups through mobile and internet platforms. At this point in time, the Cowboy State does not allow sports betting but does allow daily fantasy sports (DFS), horse and greyhound race gambling platforms.

The legal age to participate in sports betting is set at 18 years of age within the documents of this bill. Taxes on monthly sports gambling revenue would be 16% of all profits made by internet and mobile sportsbooks in Wyoming.

The initial licensing/application fee is $20,000 with an annual $10,000 license renewal fee.

Second Reading

The second reading of WY HB 0225 took place on the House Floor on Wednesday. Representative Sandy Newsome has an issue with the age set at 18.

“I’d like to request an amendment of deleting the age of 18 and making it 21,” said Rep. Newsome.

In response, the bill’s sponsor Representative Tom Walters said “The goal is to bring regulation to an already existing activity. Moving the age from 18 to 21 would still see 18 year old’s gambling on sports but in an unregulated market.”

Another opposition was spoken about in terms of Wyoming having changed the age to purchase cigarettes to 21 so sports betting should have the same. It was said that gambling from mobile phones is tempting but it’s not what Wyoming is about.

If the state wishes to legalize sports betting, much more studying and research on all forms of gambling should take place before legalization.

The bill passed by a vote of 36 YEAS. It will be read a third time within the House on a future date because of the vote by members being in favor of legalizing sports betting in Wyoming.

The Conclusion

The Cowboy State is split on the decision as to whether or not to legalize mobile and internet sports betting. While some lawmakers are in favor of the idea, others are staunchly against it but nonetheless a third reading will take place.

The legislative session in Wyoming ends on March 12. With a little over two weeks left in the current session, the legislature needs to make some swift decisions about legalizing sports betting for the state of Wyoming in 2020 so that resident sports bettors will be able to gamble on sporting events by 2021.

News tags: House Appropriations Committee | Sandy Newsome | Tom Waters | WY HB 0225 | Wyoming