Wyoming lawmakers vote to make online sweepstakes a felony offence

Wyoming's Select Committee on Gaming voted unanimously this week to sponsor legislation that would classify the operation of online sweepstakes games as a felony, resolving a jurisdictional dispute that has left the state's Gaming Commission and Consumer Protection unit passing complaints back and forth without resolution.

The draft bill targets platforms that replicate casino interfaces — slot machines, blackjack tables, jackpot animations — but operate under federal sweepstakes law, which requires a free-entry alternative and prohibits direct cash wagering. Nicholas Larramendy, head of the Wyoming Gaming Commission, told lawmakers the existing framework had created a cycle in which neither agency accepted oversight responsibility.

Opponents, including counsel for VGW, which has operated sweepstakes games in Wyoming since 2012, argued the bill would make Wyoming the only state to prohibit free-entry promotional sweepstakes connected to a purchase — a model currently valid under federal law.

Wyoming recorded approximately $2.7 billion in legal gambling wagers in 2025. Larramendy told the committee that 2026 figures are expected to surpass $3 billion.