Ask Reggi Your Question Now

Reggi is the free generative AI assistance for regulatory compliance
Ask a Question

Can I offer contests that involve international sports in Wyoming? What are the requirements?

Requirements for Offering Contests Involving International Sports in Wyoming

Yes, you can offer contests that involve international sports in Wyoming, subject to certain requirements. To offer such contests, you must comply with the following requirements:

  1. File written notice with the Commission of your intent to offer the contest type and obtain approval from the Commission before the first time the contest type is offered [1.1].
  2. Provide a detailed description of the contest type, including the rules of the contest, the requirements for entry, the entry fees, the rake, and potential payouts. The request must also indicate whether or not the proposed type involves a shared liquidity pool available to patrons in Wyoming and other jurisdictions with the prize pool being comprised of entry fees collected from patrons in multiple jurisdictions [1.1].
  3. Maintain a record of each contest offered, which must address, at a minimum, all of the following: name or identification of the contest, the date and time the contest occurred or will occur (if known), events and wager types, rules concerning contest play and participation, and for each registered patron: unique patron ID and username (if different), amount of entry fee collected, including any bonus or promotional credits, and the date collected, patron scorings/rankings, and amount of winnings paid, including any bonus or promotional credits, and the date paid. The record must also include the total amount of entry fees collected, including any bonus or promotional credits, total amount of winnings paid to patrons, including any bonus or promotional credits, total rake, commission, or fees collected, funding source amount or amounts comprising the prize pool (for example, buy-ins, re-buys, or add-ons), prize structure on payout, methodology for determining winner or winners, and the current status of the contest (in progress, complete, interrupted, cancelled, etc.) [1.1].
  4. Be responsible for the rake. The sports wagering operator’s or sports wagering vendor’s rake collected from patrons that enter a contest while located in the state of Wyoming less any rake adjustment, if applicable, shall be considered online sports wagering revenue and are subject to all taxes and tax requirements outlined in W.S. § 9-24-104. For a contest which utilizes shared liquidity available to patrons in Wyoming and other jurisdictions, the rake rate must be the same for all jurisdictions participating [1.1].

Additionally, you must comply with the following requirements:

  1. All adjustments to sports wagering accounts for amounts of five hundred dollars ($500.00) or less must be periodically reviewed by supervisory personnel as set forth in the sports wagering operator’s or sports wagering vendor’s internal controls. All other adjustments must be authorized by supervisory personnel before being entered [2.1].
  2. A patron must have an established sports wagering account with the sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor to participate in online sports wagering. An account shall only be established in the name of an individual eighteen (18) years of age or older and is non-transferable. During the registration process, the patron shall provide personal identifying information (PII) including the patron’s full legal name, date of birth, principal residential address, Social Security number, or the last four (4) digits of the Social Security number, or an equivalent identification number for a noncitizen patron, such as a passport or taxpayer identification number, and any other information collected from the patron used to verify his or her identity and to prove the patron is at least eighteen (18) years of age. The sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor must maintain an electronic patron file, which must, at a minimum, include the following for each patron, as applicable: unique patron ID and username (if different), the information indicated in subsection (b) to register a patron and create the account, encrypted PII, including the government identification number (full or partial social security number, taxpayer identification number, passport number, or equivalent), authentication credential (password, PIN, etc.), and personal financial information (debit instrument numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc.), the date and method of identity verification, including, where applicable, the document number of the government issued identification credential examined and its date of expiration, if applicable. If a government issued identification credential is not required for registration, the electronic record that details the process used to confirm the patron’s identity must be recorded, the date of patron agreement to the terms and conditions and privacy policies, account details and current balance, including any incentive credits, previous sports wagering accounts, if any, and reason for de-activation, the date and method from which the sports wagering account was registered, the date and time a sports wagering account is accessed by any person, including IP Address, and the current status of the sports wagering account (e.g., active, dormant, closed, suspended, excluded, etc.) [2.2].
  3. Each sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor shall, at all times, comply with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements for reporting and withholding proceeds from online sports wagers by patrons and shall send to patrons subject to IRS reporting or withholding a Form W2-G summarizing the information for tax purposes following a winning wager being deposited into an account. Upon written request, the sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor shall provide patrons with summarized tax information on sports wagering activities [1.2].
  4. A sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor must submit a plan to maintain a reserve in the amount necessary to ensure the security of funds held in sports wagering accounts and the ability to cover the outstanding online sports wagering liability. All plans require Commission approval. The reserve must be in the form of cash or cash equivalents maintained in a Wyoming bank account segregated from the sports wagering operator’s or sports wagering vendor’s operational funds, an irrevocable letter of credit from a bank located either in the State of Wyoming or at a minimum charted in the State of Wyoming, a bond, payment processor reserves and receivables, any other form acceptable to the Commission, or any combination of the allowable forms described. The reserve must be not less than the greater of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) or the sum of the following amounts: the daily ending cashable balance of all patrons’ sports wagering accounts, pending withdrawals, amounts accepted by the sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor on online sports wagers whose outcomes have not been determined, and amounts owed but unpaid on winning online sports wagers through the period established by the sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor for honoring winning online sports wagers. Funds held in sports wagering accounts must not be automatically transferred by a sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor. A sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor must not require a patron to transfer funds from his or her sports wagering account, in order to circumvent this rule. Amounts available to patrons for play that are not redeemable for cash may be excluded from the reserve computation. A sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor must have access to all sports wagering account and transaction data to ensure the amount of its reserve is sufficient. Unless otherwise directed by the Commission, a sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor must file a monthly attestation with the Commission, in the form and manner prescribed by the Commission, that funds have been safeguarded under this rule. The Commission may audit a sports wagering operator’s or sports wagering vendor’s reserve at any time and may direct a sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor to take any action necessary to ensure the purposes of this rule are achieved, including but not limited to requiring the sports wagering operator or sports wagering vendor to modify the form of its reserve or increase the amount of its reserve [1.3].

Therefore, to offer contests that involve international sports in Wyoming, you must comply with the requirements outlined above, as well as the additional requirements related to sports wagering account review, sports wagering account requirements, taxation requirements, and reserve requirements.

Source(s):
Jurisdiction

Wyoming