Wyoming continues the United States’ steady legalisation of online gambling

Published on 17th May 2021 by kirk

The online gambling industry has been booming for the past few years. Despite its success, one country seemed impenetrable to anything more than an odd casino or sportsbook. The United States has quite the storied history where gambling, and online gambling has historically found it no easier to gain support than in-person wagers. That has begun to change, with Wyoming being the latest state to legalise internet gambling in the form of sports betting. 

The US online casino industry continues to expand slowly but surely 

In April 2021, Wyoming joined a growing list of states with some form of legalised gambling. The progress has been steady since the US Supreme Court repealed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018. The act largely relegated single-game sports betting to physical sportsbooks in Nevada and was devastating to the sports betting industry when it was implemented in 1992. PASPA’s revocation was celebrated by sports wagering fans and operators not only throughout the country, but also by those around the world with an eye on the North American market. 

Operators interested in becoming part of Wyoming’s internet sportsbook community will need to meet a variety of conditions. Initial operator permits will cost $100,000 and will be valid for five years. When licensees renew the permit after that time, they will owe a $50,000 renewal fee. Providers will also pay the state a 10% monthly tax on revenue generated from internet sports betting. These regulations might seem rather stringent, however, a toehold in the expanding United States’ online gambling market could be worth the price. We strongly expect to see NetEnt, along with its owners at Evolution, seeking to be a part of this expansion- their annual reports make it clear that the US is an important market for them.

It is interesting to note that despite the recent growth, the online betting industry in the States is still quite tenuous. Only a handful of states in addition to Wyoming have legalised online sports betting, with many of the states with legalised sports betting regulating the activity to in-person sportsbooks only. Even fewer states have legalised casino gambling, much less online casino gambling, with just a handful – Delaware, New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania – legalising mobile casino gaming.  

It will be interesting to see how the future of online gambling and sports betting develops and which operators push steadily forward in the market.