Wyoming Select Committee on Gaming Sponsors Felony Bill to Ban Online Sweepstakes

Wyoming lawmakers have proposed legislation that would ban online sweepstakes games and classify their operation as a felony. The state’s Select Committee on Gaming unanimously sponsored the draft bill this week to clarify the legal status of online sweepstakes.

This addresses ongoing confusion over complaint handling. Wyoming law prohibits online casinos but permits online sports wagering and fantasy sports contests. Sweepstakes games are currently treated as promotional advertising under the state’s Consumer Protection Act, creating uncertainty over jurisdiction.

Clearing the Cycle of Referred Complaints

Nicholas Larramendy, Head of the Wyoming Gaming Commission, told lawmakers that the consumer protection unit views complaints about online sweepstakes as gambling and refers them to the commission. The commission then sends the complaints back to the consumer protection unit, creating “a constant cycle.”

“This bill definitely makes it very clear that this is illegal gambling,” Larramendy said.

Online sweepstakes games can look similar to online casinos, with slot machines, blackjack tables, and jackpot animations, said former Republican state Sen. Affie Ellis, a Cheyenne-based attorney representing Bally’s Corporation. However, the two products are fundamentally different. Online casinos accept real-money wagers and pay out cash, while sweepstakes games are free to play. Under federal law, sweepstakes linked to purchases must provide an alternative method of entry that does not require a purchase.

“This is over broad, and it does conflict with the idea that a sweepstakes in connection with a purchase of a good or service is currently valid in Wyoming and should remain valid in Wyoming,” Bill Gantz, an attorney for VGW, a sweepstakes gaming company, said.

Gantz said VGW has operated online sweepstakes games in Wyoming since 2012. “If this language were adopted, Wyoming would be virtually the only state that I can think of that would not allow a free entry to be used in a game that is resulting in the award of a prize,” he said.

Industry Growth Driving Tighter Oversight

The proposed legislation comes as gambling activity in Wyoming continues to grow. About $2.7 billion was wagered across all forms of legal gambling in the state last year, according to Larramendy.

The increase has prompted lawmakers to strengthen industry oversight. Wyoming established the Select Committee on Gaming in 2025 to address gambling-related issues in the state. Alongside the proposed sweepstakes ban, lawmakers also sponsored legislation to update fingerprinting requirements for certain individuals regulated by the Wyoming Gaming Commission.

As first reported by Yogonet International, the bill targets the ambiguity that has left both regulators and operators without clear enforcement lines.

Reporting: Yogonet International

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