Study: Legalized iGaming May Be Beneficial to Wyoming

• A new report from Spectrum Gaming Group shows Wyoming could benefit from expanded gaming offers
• iGaming could contribute nearly $140 million in gross gaming revenue a year
• The report does not show a severe impact to the state’s established casino market if iGaming is approved

A newly published report this week shows legalized Wyoming iGaming would be a beneficial new program for the state and would have little negative impact on Wyoming’s already established casino market.

The Wyoming Gaming Commission commissioned the study from Spectrum Gaming Group to evaluate the state’s current gaming market, the potential impact of legalized iGaming, and how a gaming expansion could effect the current markets in the state.

Wyoming currently has legalized online sports betting and five operators in the Cowboy State, as well as three Native American casinos that operate on their own individualized gaming compacts. The state has no casinos of its own.

Study Shows Positive iGaming Revenue Potential

Spectrum Gaming evaluated several performance benchmarks from the eight states that have some form of legalized iGaming. The report determined Wyoming could see impactful iGaming revenues if the state legalizes the new form of gaming.

“From these benchmarks, it appears that Wyoming iGaming could produce gross gaming revenues of between $93.4 million and $138.4 million if legal in 2024. Wyoming imposes a 20% tax on gross gaming revenue on both skill based amusement games and historical horse racing. Tax rates in iGaming in other jurisdictions range from 15% in West Virginia to 54% in Pennsylvania,” according to the report.

If Wyoming taxed iGaming at a 20% rate of gross gaming revenue, it could see between $18.6 million and $27.6 million annually in tax revenues.

In addition to potentially legalizing iGamign in the Cowboy State, the Spectrum Gaming Group recommended raising the legal age of historical horse racing and online sports betting to 21, keeping the legal age consistent with skill-based amusement game requirements.

Wyoming legalized online sports betting on April 5, 2021, after Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) signed HB 0133 into law.

Limited Impact on Casino Market

In addition to the revenue impact, Spectrum Gaming Group evaluated iGaming legalization’s potential detriment to the current casino market in the state. Every state with legalized iGaming has established casinos, according to the report.

However, of the seven states offering iGaming, only West Virginia “has an extensive distributed gaming industry.” West Virginia offers brick-and-mortar casinos, video lottery games, iGaming, and both in-person and online sports betting in the state.

Evaluating gross gaming revenues in West Virginia, Spectrum Gaming Group found “there has been little to no erosion in the gaming market for casino gaming or VLT games across the state” after iGaming legalization.

“iGaming gross gaming revenue has been accretive rather than cannibalistic to the casino and distributed gaming sectors,” according to the report.