On February 28, a bill that would have legalized sports betting in Wyoming died on the state House floor. The bill, which was sponsored by Representative Tom Walters, was defeated by a narrow 32-27 vote. But gambling progressed as a whole, as new regulations were agreed on and sent to the Senate.

According to Walters, this was simply a vote against any form of gambling within the state. “They felt that by providing a regulatory opportunity it was legalizing it,” Walters explained. “I somewhat disagree in saying it’s not illegal but it operates in an underground world because we don’t have a regulatory framework in place. With no regulatory framework, it will continue to not be monitored.”

The bill proposed a 16% tax rate and an initial license fee of $20,000, renewed annually at a cost of $10,000. The bill also set a minimum gambling age of 18 years of age and would have allowed for betting to begin in 2021, just in time for the NFL playoffs.

A unique provision of the bill was that it did not set a limitation on the number of applicants who could bid for a sports betting license. This would’ve allowed several of the big-name sportsbooks, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, to make a bid, but also opened the door for smaller or lesser-known operations.