This week, the Wyoming Select Committee on Capital Financing and Investments will take up a proposal to double the state tax on sports betting.
Sports betting is currently taxed at 10%. The committee’s recommendation would raise that rate to 20%, a 100% increase coming barely four years after Wyoming legalized the industry.
There is no justification for doubling taxes on a growing industry that has created jobs, provided residents with safe, legal entertainment, and already delivered meaningful revenue to the state.
Sports betting is a highly mobile industry, with steep competition among the states that have legalized it. States that have sharply increased sports betting taxes have already driven legal operators out of the market.
If Wyoming follows that path, bettors could easily turn to out-of-state operators or unregulated black markets that provide no benefit to the state. That would cut into the significant revenue Wyoming now receives while also weakening consumer protections.
Illegal markets still account for roughly one-third of the U.S. market, and higher taxes on the legal market only push more activity back into the black market.
Wyoming has earned a reputation for maintaining a stable, predictable, and competitive tax environment. That reputation is a key reason why businesses and entrepreneurs see the state as a place to grow and invest. Undermining it with selective tax hikes on sports betting sends the wrong signal not only to operators in this industry but to any business evaluating whether Wyoming is truly committed to fostering a fair and consistent business climate.
If lawmakers choose to single out sports betting for unnecessary tax increases, it raises doubts about which industries might be targeted next. That uncertainty damages Wyoming’s standing as a business-friendly state and risks discouraging future investment.
Meanwhile, legal sports bettors who have embraced a safe, regulated marketplace since 2021 should not be punished with higher costs just to fuel an unnecessary revenue grab by the government. Wyoming has no fiscal crisis, no budget shortfall, and no pressing need for additional revenue. Raising taxes simply to grow government sends exactly the wrong message to both businesses and taxpayers.