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Weekly News – 03/30/2021

Chris Altman
Chris Altman Sports Betting Expert
5 minute read

THIS WEEK IN LEGAL SPORTS BETTING — WYOMING SPORTS BETTING IS COMING

Best US Sportsbooks · Weekly Update

March 30th, 2021 Weekly Report

One of the biggest seasons in legal sports betting is currently underway — March Madness! So, there is no time like the present to get into legal sports betting in your state. However, if your state does not yet have sports betting options, that may be set to change. Keep reading to learn about this week’s legal sports betting news!

If you want to find our more on some major topics not covered in this article you can check out the rest of VegasInsider with our exclusive bet365 bonus code, BetMGM bonus code or PointsBet promo code for example!

CONTENTS

WYOMING SPORTS BETTING — WHERE DOES IT STAND?

Residents in Wyoming may soon have reason to rejoice as they may soon have legal Wyoming sports betting. A piece of legislation known as Wyoming HB 133 was passed in the state Senate by a vote of 24-5-1. The bill now goes back to the state House, where they will ask for concurrence and decide whether to approve the small amendments that were made in the state Senate. Finally, the bill will find its way to Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon’s desk for his signature to turn it into law.

The hope is to launch Wyoming sports betting on September 1st of this year, 2021, according to Charles Morre, the Director of the Wyoming Gaming Commission. These positive moves forward for sports betting in the state come as a surprise considering that earlier this March, the Wyoming state house had voted against the bill.

However, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, state Representative Landon Brown asked for a reconsideration vote, with his assurances that issues and questions with the bill would be addressed. The bill then passed by a vote of 32-28. Luckily, the bill did not really face any opposition in the state Senate, where it flew through the Senate Appropriations Committee. The small amendments that were made to the bill were to give consistency through gaming license applicants as Wyoming makes these changes to its gaming regulations.

The legislation HB 133 makes online sports betting legal in the state of Wyoming. The bill will give access in the state to at least five sports betting operators. However, online operators that are currently active in three other states are able to apply for a license in the state. It is very likely that sports betting giant DraftKings will be one of the first operators to apply for a license to operate sports betting in the state of Wyoming.

Some other sports betting operators that are expected to apply are:

An estimation from the Wyoming Gaming Commission hopes that the state can see $449 million in annual sports betting sales. The tax on revenue from sports betting sales in the state would be 10%. The cost to these operators for a five year permit would be $100,000 with the renewal fee set at $50,000.

A big selling point for the bill was the fact that neighboring states have made great sales and tax revenue through legal sports betting. For instance, Colorado has seen great gains in the state through legalizing Colorado sports betting. South Dakota sports betting has also been legalized in the city of Deadwood, SD. Plus, the state of Montana has Intralot through the Montana Lottery.

NY SPORTS BETTING MAY NOT COME AS SOON AS WE THOUGHT

Despite seeing momentum for mobile NY sports betting earlier this year, it appears an agreement has stalled. State Senator Joe Addabbo Jr. has changed his tune from the optimistic attitude he showed just two weeks ago, when he talked about the “common ground” that has been found. Now, he indicates that the struggle to get mobile sports betting included in the NY state budget has been frustrating.

State Senator Addabbo feels that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has not done the best job of negotiating considering the support New York sports betting has. The momentum to get mobile New York sports betting legalized in the state has never been so high. However, this momentum could amount to nothing if the state budget does not include the foundation for it for this year.

There is not a lot of incentive to work to get New York sports betting passed if the state budget does not account for it. So that could mean that S 1138 as well as A 1257 have lost their chances of passing as standalone bills this year. The New York state Senate made a big push to get mobile New York sports betting passed this year and is disappointed by this lack of development.

Earlier this year and at the end of last year, New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo had expressed interest in looking into legalizing New York sports betting. However, his proposed model would only have one sports betting operator that would operate via the New York state lottery. This model is in contrast to the fourteen skin model that the legislation from state Senator Addabbo and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow would approve.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie would not allow a vote on Senate-backed legislation for New York sports betting back in 2019. However, he gave the proposition some hope when he signed off on language for mobile betting in the Assembly’s one-house budget. However, the lack of details from the Governor’s office mixed with lack of support from the Assembly has not given the proponents the room to negotiate that they had hoped would come.

Proponents of New York sports betting legalization want to see the state gain revenue through taxing sports betting sales. With booming sports betting markets in neighboring states New Jersey and Pennsylvania, many are worried about the amount of tax money that New York is losing to these states. Plus, with Connecticut sports betting most likely on the way this year, there is another neighboring state that can leech money that could be going to New York.

CONCLUSION LEGAL SPORTS BETTING NEWS

New York sports betting may not be coming this year, which is a big disappointment. However we are seeing moves in the Wyoming sports betting market. And, we may be weeks out from a Connecticut sports betting announcement. So, there are plenty of outlets for those who are looking to place sports bets. But, anything can change in the sports betting world from week to week. So, keep coming back to check out the latest sports betting news in the United States!

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise.

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Chris Altman

Chris Altman

Chris Altman is a sports betting writer and content expert with almost a decade of experience. He's covered everything, but his current focus is on reviewing sportsbooks and online casinos and keeping tabs on sports betting legislation. Chris has been with VegasInsider since 2019 and has freelanced in the sports betting content industry for years. More from Chris Altman
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