Wyoming forms new committee to explore gaming expansion

The Wyoming legislature has created a new select committee to oversee gambling issues after five related bills, including one to legalize online casinos, failed during the 2025 session.

“The issue is, there’s no home committee for gaming,” Sen. John Kolb, one of the co-chairmen for the new committee, said, per the Buffalo Bulletin. “It’s been kind of the unwanted child, getting passed from committee to committee.”

The committee’s creation follows efforts by a 2024 special work group, formed by the Joint Appropriations Committee, which conducted a comprehensive study of Wyoming’s gambling industry in collaboration with Spectrum Gaming Group. That group sponsored five bills during this year’s session.

Among the proposed legislation was House Bill 162, which sought to legalize online casinos. However, the measure encountered resistance in committee hearings due to concerns over potential revenue loss for tribal casinos and responsible gambling safeguards.

The new committee — comprised of three House members and three Senators — will focus exclusively on gambling issues moving forward. Rep. Jayme Lien will serve as co-chair alongside Kolb.

While the concept of a dedicated gambling committee is new to Wyoming, it mirrors structures in other states that have formal legislative bodies overseeing gaming policy.

According to Spectrum’s report, online gambling in Wyoming could generate as much as $200 million in annual revenue, with approximately $40 million potentially flowing to state coffers in the form of taxes.

Wyoming legalized online sports betting in 2021. Since its launch, the state has seen over $629 million in wagers, resulting in $65 million in sportsbook revenue and $3.8 million in collected taxes.

Although several state legislatures considered online casino bills this year, none successfully passed, including Wyoming's.