NY State Senate Bill 2025-S7908A

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 15, 2026	print number 7908a
Apr 15, 2026	amend and recommit to finance
Feb 10, 2026	reported and committed to finance
Jan 07, 2026	referred to racing, gaming and wagering
May 13, 2025	referred to racing, gaming and wagering

Votes

- Feb 10, 2026 - Racing, Gaming And Wagering Committee Vote
  S7908A
  
  Aye
  
  7
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  
  0
  - - Racing, Gaming And Wagering Committee Vote: Feb 10, 2026
      
      aye (7)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Comrie
      
      Fahy
      
      Helming
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Stavisky
      
      Tedisco

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

2025-S7908 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10440
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§1344, 1367 & 1367-a, RWB L

2025-S7908 - Summary

Relates to preventing minors from participating in sports wagering and creating accounts on mobile sports wagering platforms; requires platforms to employ commercially reasonable and technically feasible age assurance methods.

2025-S7908 - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7908

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in
relation to preventing minors from participating in sports wagering

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To prevent illegal underage gambling on mobile sports betting websites
and apps by requiring operators of such websites and apps to conduct
commercially reasonable age assurance for account holders and to allow
individuals such as a parent to register their personal data so that an
underage user cannot borrow it to create an account

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one amends subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (i) of subdivision 12
of Section 1367 of Racing, Parti-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law (PML)
to require mobile sports wagering licensees to incorporate the exclusion
list created in the bill into their existing procedures to prevent

prohibited persons from placing sports wagers under the law.

Section two adds a new paragraph (k) to subdivision 12 of Section 1367
of PML to create a digital version of the NYS Gaming Commission's
current exclusion process for in-person gaming facilities. This section
essentially adapts the Gaming Commission's voluntary self-exclusion
program that they offer to individuals who may self-identify as problem
gamblers and wish to be excluded from in-person sports betting, commer-
cial casinos, video lottery games, traditional lottery draw, QuickDraw,
interactive fantasy sports, hose racing, and charitable gaming activ-
ities at facilities around the state. Individuals wishing to self-ex-
clude currently must complete a physical form, get it notarized, and
mailed to the Gaming Commission headquarters in Schenectady, New York.

Paragraph (k) requires the Gaming Commission to create a digital version
of this process for mobile sports betting, wherein individuals could
register any of their identifying information, so long as it is unique
and can reliably be associated with them, to a virtual exclusion list
which would prevent themselves or any other person, such as a minor,
from borrowing their identifying information to create an account. The
Gaming Commission would be required to promulgate regulations to ensure
that such personal information is securely protected with safeguards
such as encryption, firewalls, and password protection, and that the
data would be permanently deleted if the individual at any point decided
to rescind their place on the exclusion list.

Section three of this bill amends subparagraph (iii) of paragrap(
j),gf,subdivision 4 of Section 1367-a of PML to require mobile sports
wagering operitorVtotonduct commercially reasonable and technically
feasible age assurance for users on their platforms at the point of
account creation. The Commission would promulgate regulations outlining
acceptable methods of age assurance, which may mirror the acceptable age
assurance methods for another set of large and sophisticated apps,
social media apps with addictive feeds covered under General Business
Law Article 45, who are required to determine the ages of their users
for the purposes of that article. The bill precludes self-reporting of
age with no other corroborating evidence, however, as an acceptable
method of age assurance. Mobile sports wagering operators would also be
required to accept age signals from devices, which could be included in
the Gaming Commission's regulations as one possible method of age assur-
ance.

Section four of the bill is a severability clause. Section five of the
bill sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York first legalized mobile sports betting, wherein users can place
virtual wagers via a website or app on the outcome of a sporting event,
the individual performance of an athlete, or a combination thereof, in
the FY22 budget (Part Y of Section 4 of Ch.  59 of 2021). Mobile sports
betting operators, such as Bally Bet, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings,
ESPN Bet, FanDuel, and others, would finally be able to offer their
product to New Yorkers provided that they met a number of conditions:
the operators must be licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission,
pay a one-time $25 million fee to the state as well as a 51% tax on
their gaming revenue moving forward, produce a detailed annual report
for the Commission on the total amount of wagers placed and prizes
awarded, and submit to an annual financial audit. Licensees were also
required to take a number of steps to ensure that sports bettors were
limited to a single account, and, crucially, that they were not on a
list of "prohibited sports bettors" which Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering
and Breeding Law (PML) § 1367(1)(r) defines as casino or gaming employ-
ees, related contractors and consultants, their spouses, children,
siblings, or parents residing in their principal abode, partici pating
athletes that are the subject of the sports event, sports agents and
owners, union umpire personnel, employees of sports governing bodies
overseeing the sporting event - or any person under the age of 21.

Mobile sports betting operators were required under PAL §
1367-a(4)(a)(iii) to prohibit minors from accessing their platforms
pursuant to Gaming Commission rules and regulations, which currently
stipulate that operators must collect full names, addresses, phone
numbers, self-reported dates of birth (DOB), and the last four digits of
Social Security numbers, unless a user willingly provides a full Social
Security number, at the point of account creation. The Gaming Commission
then prescribes that operators use multi-factor authentication (MFA),
which may include a password, previously provided security questions,
biometric data such as a fingerprint or face or voice recognition, or an
authorization code sent to a user's device or email, to verify a user's
identity and ensure that the bettor is of a legal age.

There are several technical flaws to this approach: firstly, the last
four digits of an individual's Social Security number, which is the
maximum number of digits that users can currently enter on some major
sports betting apps' platforms, is neither unique to a specific person
nor does it tell the collector anything about a user's age.  All of the
other identification factors required to be collected by the Gaming
Commission, such as name, address, phone number, neither prove a user's
age nor are difficult for an underage minor to access.  Instead, sports-
book operators, with the Commission's explicit regulatory blessing,
simply rely on users to tell the truth about whether or not they are of
legal betting age, despite multiple more reliable modern methods of age
determination.

The presence of underage minors on mobile sports betting platforms is
undeniable. Major sportsbook operators DraftKings and FanDuel openly
compete in the lucrative marketplace of college campuses, where a large
chunk of students are under 21. One NCAA survey found that 58% of 18- to
22-year-olds had placed a wager in the last year, with nearly 70% of
college students reporting betting at one point or another (Brooks,
Khristopher. "Underage Teenagers Are Illegally Placing Sports Wagers
Online, Survey Suggests - CBS News."  Www.cbsnews.com, CBS News, 25 May
2023, www.cbsnews.cominews/online-sports-betting-teenagers-ncaa-
survey/.)  Another survey from the National Council on Problem Gambling
found that between 60% and 80% of high schoolers reported sports betting
in the past year, and teachers and students alike report open conversa-
tions about the latest parlay and point spread bet in school hallways on
a daily basis (Cotrone, Colby. "High Stakes for High Schoolers: Wanna
Bet Teens Need Gambling Education?" New York Post, 7 May 2024,
nypost.com/2024/05/07/lifestyle/high-stakes-for-high-schoolers-wanna-bet
-teens-need-q ambling-education/.)

In an October 2023 report, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli noted the
particular challenges that mobile sports betting presents for youth, who
are more engaged with their smartphones, more compulsive compared to
adults, and more likely to develop an addiction disorder that leads to
other problems later in life (DiNapoli, Thomas. Recent Impact of Gaming
Expansions on Revenues and Problem Gambling in New York. New York State
Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Oct. 2023.)  Furthermore, outpatient
service providers treating problem gaming and addiction disorders report
a huge surge in underage patients since the legalization of mobile
sports betting, particularly of young male patients, and New York's
gambling "HOPEline" reported a 26% increase in calls in the state's
first year of mobile sports betting (Rock, Julia. "In Brief: Sports
Betting in New York." New York Focus, 2025, nysfo-
cus.com/2025/01/16/what-is-sports-betting-new-york.)

This bill presents a commonsense solution to the problem of easy and
inevitable access of mobile sports betting platforms by minors by
requiring sportsbook operators, only nine of whom are currently licensed
to operate in NYS, to undergo commercially reasonable age assurance to
determine whether or not a user is 21 years of age and thus able to
legally create an account on their platforms. Age assurance, which is
already the law of the land for social media apps with addictive feeds
under Article 45 of General Business Law, is widely deployed across apps
and websites in the 21st century. Mobile sports betting platforms, which
since January of 2022 have facilitated the creation of more than 3.8
million unique user accounts and processed 1.2 billion transactions, are
highly sophisticated technological products that more than capable of
securely collecting, and then deleting, information specific to a user
to determine whether or not they can legally use a platform.  This bill
thus provides that the Gaming Commission must specify acceptable methods
of age assurance in their regulations for the gaming platforms, provided
that the methods are more reliable than user self-reporting of age.

Secondly, this bill requires the Gaming Commission to digitize its
current self-exclusion process for gambling, which allows individuals to
voluntarily exclude themselves from all brick and mortar gaming facili-
ties in the state. Individuals can currently self-exclude for one year,
three years, five years, or a lifetime, but may request removal from the
self-exclusion list at the end of their chosen term.  Individuals apply
for self-exclusion by filling out a physical form which they must get
notarized and mail to the Gaming Commission. The commission then main-
tains a database of self-excluded individuals and sends it to all gaming
operators in the state, who must check it at the point of entry.

This bill would create a similar system for mobile sports betting,
allowing individuals to electronically submit any identifying informa-
tion, so long as it is unique to the individual, to a virtual database
that the Gaming Commission would maintain. In addition to allowing prob-
lem online sports gamblers to constrain themselves from betting activ-
ity, this electronic database would have the added benefit of allowing
parents to register their identifying info, such as a Social Security
number, phone number, credit card, or other piece of unique data, to
prevent their children from using such data to illegally create an
account. While numerous sportsbook operators currently allow parents to
disqualify themselves and their children from online betting, this
requires parents to disqualify from each app and platform one by one,
which is prohibitively cumbersome. Under this bill, the parent would
only need to register their identifying information once, and the Gaming
Commission would then undertake the task of making sure all operators in
the state have access to and are using the database.

In creating a centralized digital database that allows parents to easily
prevent their identifying info from being used to create an account,
while also requiring gaming apps to undertake commercially reasonable
age assurance, this bill presents a commonsense and practical approach
to the growing problem of underage sports betting in New York State and
its deeply disturbing consequences.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.

2025-S7908 - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7908
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed  to be committed to the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wager-
   ing
 
 AN ACT to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and  breeding  law,  in
   relation to preventing minors from participating in sports wagering

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1.  Subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (i) of  subdivision  12  of
 section  1367  of  the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, as
 added by section 3 of part Y of chapter 59  of  the  laws  of  2021,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   (iv)  who  has been identified as a prohibited sports bettor in a list
 provided by the sports governing body to the commission  and  casino  or
 mobile  sports wagering operator, that identifies the individual by such
 personally identifiable information as  specified  by  rules  and  regu-
 lations promulgated by the commission, INCLUDING PERSONS WHO HAVE REGIS-
 TERED  IDENTIFYING  INFORMATION UNDER PARAGRAPH (K) OF THIS SUBDIVISION;
 or
   § 2. Subdivision 12 of section 1367 of the racing, pari-mutuel  wager-
 ing and breeding law is amended by adding a new paragraph (k) to read as
 follows:
   (K)  (I)  THE  COMMISSION SHALL ESTABLISH A MEANS BY WHICH PERSONS MAY
 REGISTER ANY OF THEIR IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ON AN EXCLUSION  LIST  FOR
 THE  PURPOSES OF PREVENTING THEMSELVES AND ANY OTHER PERSON, INCLUDING A
 MINOR, FROM USING SUCH INFORMATION TO CREATE  AN  ACCOUNT  ON  A  MOBILE
 SPORTS WAGERING PLATFORM.
   (II) MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING OPERATORS SHALL BE PROHIBITED FROM PERMIT-
 TING  THE REGISTRATION OF ANY ACCOUNT WITH SUCH IDENTIFYING INFORMATION,
 PROVIDED THAT THE COMMISSION HAS PROVIDED MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING  OPERA-
 TORS ACCESS TO SUCH EXCLUDED IDENTIFYING INFORMATION.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11781-02-5
 S. 7908                             2

 
   (III) THE COMMISSION SHALL PROMULGATE REGULATIONS UNDER THIS PARAGRAPH
 TO  ENSURE:  THE  SECURE  COLLECTION AND TRANSMITTAL OF SUCH IDENTIFYING
 INFORMATION TO MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING OPERATORS, AS PROVIDED IN SUBPARA-
 GRAPH (II) OF THIS PARAGRAPH; THE  UNIQUENESS  AND  RELIABILITY  OF  THE
 IDENTIFYING INFORMATION BEING COLLECTED; AND THAT THE IDENTIFYING INFOR-
 MATION  IS  STRICTLY  PROTECTED BY DATA SECURITY MEASURES, INCLUDING BUT
 NOT LIMITED TO ENCRYPTION,  FIREWALLS,  AND  PASSWORD  PROTECTION,  DATA
 SYSTEM  MONITORING,  LIMITATIONS  ON ACCESS TO AUTHORIZED PERSONS WITHIN
 THE COMMISSION, AND  OTHER  REASONABLE  ADMINISTRATIVE,  TECHNICAL,  AND
 PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS TO PROTECT THE SECURITY, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND INTEG-
 RITY  OF  IDENTIFYING  INFORMATION  PROVIDED BY PERSONS UNDER THIS PARA-
 GRAPH.
   (IV) PERSONS SUBMITTING THEIR IDENTIFYING  INFORMATION  FOR  EXCLUSION
 FROM  MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING UNDER THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL RETAIN THE RIGHT
 TO VOLUNTARILY RESCIND SUCH EXCLUSION AT ANY TIME, AT WHICH  POINT  SUCH
 IDENTIFYING INFORMATION SHALL BE DELETED FROM THE COMMISSION'S DATABASE.
   §  3.  Subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section
 1367-a of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, as added by
 section 4 of part Y of chapter 59 of the laws of  2021,  is  amended  to
 read as follows:
   (iii)  (A)  prohibit  minors from participating in any sports wagering
 [pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated  by  the  commission]  BY
 CONDUCTING AGE ASSURANCE TO DETERMINE, AT THE POINT OF ACCOUNT REGISTRA-
 TION, THAT THE PERSON CREATING AN ACCOUNT IS NOT A MINOR. THE COMMISSION
 SHALL  PROMULGATE  REGULATIONS  IDENTIFYING  COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE AND
 TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE METHODS FOR MOBILE  SPORTS  WAGERING  OPERATORS  TO
 DETERMINE  IF  A  PERSON  IS  A  MINOR,  CONSIDERING THE SIZE, FINANCIAL
 RESOURCES, AND TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES  OF  THE  MOBILE  SPORTS  WAGERING
 PLATFORM  OPERATED  BY  SUCH  OPERATOR,  THE  COSTS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF
 AVAILABLE AGE DETERMINATION  TECHNIQUES,  THE  AUDIENCE  OF  THE  MOBILE
 SPORTS WAGERING PLATFORM, AND PREVALENT PRACTICES OF THE INDUSTRY OF THE
 MOBILE  SPORTS  WAGERING  OPERATOR AND OTHER SIMILAR DIGITAL INDUSTRIES.
 SUCH REGULATIONS SHALL ALSO IDENTIFY THE APPROPRIATE LEVELS OF  ACCURACY
 THAT  WOULD  BE  COMMERCIALLY  REASONABLE  AND  TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE FOR
 MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING OPERATORS TO ACHIEVE  IN  DETERMINING  WHETHER  A
 PERSON  IS A MINOR. ANY INFORMATION COLLECTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE AGE
 ASSURANCE REQUIREMENT UNDER THIS SUBPARAGRAPH  SHALL  BE  DELETED  IMME-
 DIATELY  AFTER  AN  ATTEMPT  TO  DETERMINE  A PERSON'S AGE, EXCEPT WHERE
 NECESSARY FOR APPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF STATE OR  FEDERAL  LAW  OR  REGU-
 LATION.
   (B)  WHEN  PROMULGATING  REGULATIONS  FOR  COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE AND
 TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE METHODS FOR AGE ASSURANCE UNDER THIS  SUBPARAGRAPH,
 THE  COMMISSION  MAY INCORPORATE THE METHODS PROMULGATED BY THE ATTORNEY
 GENERAL UNDER SECTION FIFTEEN HUNDRED ONE OF THE GENERAL  BUSINESS  LAW,
 EXCEPT THAT SUCH REGULATIONS OF THE COMMISSION SHALL NOT INCORPORATE THE
 METHOD  OF  A  PERSON  SELF-REPORTING THEIR AGE WITH NO OTHER SUPPORTING
 EVIDENCE. SUCH SELF-REPORTING SHALL NOT BE AN ACCEPTABLE METHOD  OF  AGE
 ASSURANCE UNDER THIS SUBPARAGRAPH.
   (C)  FOR  THE  PURPOSES OF THIS SUBPARAGRAPH, A MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING
 OPERATOR SHALL TREAT A PERSON AS A MINOR IF THE PERSON'S DEVICE COMMUNI-
 CATES OR SIGNALS THAT THE PERSON IS OR SHALL  BE  TREATED  AS  A  MINOR,
 INCLUDING THROUGH A PRIVACY SETTING, DEVICE SETTING, OR OTHER MECHANISM;
   § 4. Severability. If any provision of this act or  application there-
 of  shall   for   any   reason   be   adjudged by any court of competent
 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,  impair,  or
 invalidate the remainder of the act, but shall be confined in its opera-
 S. 7908                             3
 
 tion  to  the  provision thereof directly involved in the controversy in
 which the judgment shall have been rendered.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
 completed on or before such effective date.

2025-S7908A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10440
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§1344, 1367 & 1367-a, RWB L

2025-S7908A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S7908A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7908A

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in
relation to preventing minors from participating in sports wagering

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To prevent illegal underage gambling on mobile sports betting websites
and apps by requiring operators of such websites and apps to conduct
commercially reasonable age assurance for account holders and to allow
individuals such as a parent to register their personal data so that an
underage user cannot borrow it to create an account

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of this bill adds a new subdivision 6 to Section 1344 of the
Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law (PML) to provide that the
Gaming Commission shall create a digital exclusion list for mobile
sports betting apps as later described in the bill.

Section two of this bill amends subdivision one of Section 1367 of PML
to add two new definitions for "identifying information" and "Internet
protocol address."

Section three of this bill adds a new subparagraph (iii) to paragraph
(I) of subdivision 12 of Section 1367 of PML to require mobile sports
betting apps to block users who are attempting to create an account or
place a wager using information from an excluded list.

Section four adds a new paragraph (k) to subdivision 12 of Section 1367
of PML to create a digital version of the NYS Gaming Commission's
current exclusion process for in-person gaming facilities. This section
essentially adapts the Gaming Commission's voluntary self-exclusion
program that they offer to individuals who may self-identify as problem
gamblers and wish to be excluded from mobile sports betting as well as
in-person sports betting, commercial casinos, video lottery games,
traditional lottery draw, QuickDraw, interactive fantasy sports, horse
racing, and charitable gaming activities at facilities around the state.
Individuals wishing to self-exclude currently must complete a physical
form, get it notarized, and mail it to the Gaming Commission headquar-
ters in Schenectady, New York. This amendment would allow users to
exclude themselves from mobile sports betting platforms digitally rather
than by printing and mailing a paper form.

Paragraph (k) requires the Gaming Commission to create a digital self-
exclusion registry, wherein individuals could register any of their
identifying information, so long as it is unique and can reliably be
associated with them, to a virtual exclusion list which would prevent
themselves or any other person, such as a minor, from borrowing their
identifying information to create an account. The Gaming Commission
would be required to promulgate regulations to ensure that such personal
information is securely protected with safeguards such as encryption,
firewalls, and password protection, and to ensure that the data would be
permanently deleted if the individual at any point decided to rescind
their spot on the exclusion list.

Section five of this bill amends subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of
subdivision 4 of Section 1367-a of PML to require mobile sports wagering
operators to conduct commercially reasonable and technically feasible
age assurance for users on their platforms at the point of account
creation. The Commission would promulgate regulations outlining accepta-
ble methods of age assurance, though the bill precludes self-reporting
of age with no other corroborating evidence.  Mobile sports wagering
operators would also be required to accept age signals from devices,
which could be included in the Gaming Commission's regulations as one
possible method of age assurance.

Section six of the bill is a severability clause.

Section seven of the bill sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York first legalized mobile sports betting, wherein users can place
virtual wagers via a website or app on the outcome of a sporting event,
the individual performance of an athlete, or a combination thereof, in
the FY22 budget (Part Y of Section 4 of Ch.  59 of 2021). Mobile sports
betting operators, such as Bally Bet, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings,
ESPN Bet, FanDuel, and others, would be able to offer their product to
New Yorkers provided that they met a number of conditions: they must be
licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission, pay a one-time $25
million fee to the state as well as a 51% tax on their gaming revenue
moving forward, produce a detailed annual report for the Commission on
the total amount of wagers placed and prizes awarded, and submit to an
annual financial audit. Licensees were also required to take a number of
steps to ensure that sports bettors were limited to a single account,
and, crucially, that they were not on a list of "prohibited sports
bettors" which Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law (PML) §
1367(1)(r) defines as casino or gaming employees, related contractors
and consultants, their spouses, children, siblings, or parents residing
in their principal abode, participating athletes t hat are the subject
of the sports event, sports agents and owners, union umpire personnel,
employees of sports governing bodies overseeing the sporting event - or
any person under the age of 21.

Mobile sports betting operators were required under PAL §
1367-a(4)(a)(iii) to prohibit under 21 minors from accessing their plat-
forms pursuant to Gaming Commission rules and regulations, which
currently stipulate that operators must collect full names, addresses,
phone numbers, self-reported dates of birth (DOB), and the last four
digits of Social Security numbers, unless a user willingly provides a
full Social Security number, at the point of account creation. The
Gaming Commission then prescribes that operators use multi-factor
authentication (MFA), which may include a password, previously provided
security questions, biometric data such as a fingerprint or face or
voice recognition, or an authorization code sent to a user's device or
email, to verify a user's identity and ensure that the bettor is of a
legal age.

Despite the Gaming Commission's best intentions, however, minors are
easily able to access the last four digits of a parent's Social Security
number as well as their name, address, phone number. Without a more
robust know your customer (KYC) requirement to ensure that the person
creating a mobile sports betting account is actually over the age of 21,
the current requirements do not meaningfully prevent prohibited minors
from accessing these incredibly high risk platforms.

The presence of underage minors on mobile sports betting platforms is
undeniable. Major sportsbook operators DraftKings and FanDuel openly
compete in the lucrative marketplace of college campuses, where a large
chunk of students are under 21. One NCAA survey found that 58% of 18- to
22-year-olds had placed a wager in the last year, with nearly 70% of
college students reporting betting at one point or another (Brooks,
Khristopher. "Underage Teenagers Are Illegally Placing Sports Wagers
Online, Survey Suggests - CBS News."  Www.cbsnews.com, CBS News, 25 May
2023, www.cbsnews.com/news/online-sports-betting-teenagers-ncaa-
survey/.)  Another survey from the National Council on Problem Gambling
found that between 60% and 80% of high schoolers reported sports betting
in the past year, and teachers and students alike report open conversa-
tions about the latest parlay and point spread bet in school hallways on
a daily basis (Cotrone, Colby. "High Stakes for High Schoolers: Wanna
Bet Teens Need Gambling Education?" New York Post, 7 May 2024,
nypost.com/2024/05/07/lifestyle/high-stakes-for-high-schoolers-wanna-bet
-teens-need-q ambling-education/.)

In an October 2023 report, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli noted the
particular challenges that mobile sports betting presents for youth, who
are more engaged with their smartphones, more compulsive compared to
adults, and more likely to develop an addiction disorder that leads to
other problems later in life (DiNapoli, Thomas'. Recent Impact of Gaming
Expansions on Revenues and Problem Gambling in New York. New York State
Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Oct. 2023.)  Furthermore, outpatient
service providers treating problem gaming and addiction disorders report
a huge surge in underage patients since the legalization of mobile
sports betting, particularly of young male patients, and New York's
gambling "HOPEline" reported a 26% increase in calls in the state's
first year of mobile sports betting (Rock, Julia. "In Brief: Sports
Betting in New York." New York Focus, 2025, nysfo-
cus.com/2025/01/16/what-is-sports-betting-new-york.)

This bill presents a commonsense solution to the problem by requiring
sportsbook operators, only nine of whom are currently licensed to oper-
ate in NYS, to undergo commercially reasonable age assurance to deter-
mine whether or not a user is 21 years of age and thus able to legally
create an account on their platforms. Age assurance, which is already
the law of the land for social media apps with addictive feeds under
Article 45 of General Business Law, is widely deployed across apps and
websites in the 21st century. Mobile sports betting platforms, which
since January of 2022 have facilitated the creation of more than 5.6
million unique user accounts and processed more than 2.6 billion trans-
actions, are highly sophisticated technological products that more than
capable of securely collecting, and then deleting, information specific
to a user to determine whether or not they can legally use a platform.'
This bill thus provides that the Gaming Commission must specify accepta-
ble methods of age assurance in their regulations for the gaming plat-
forms, provided that the methods are more reliable than user self-re-
porting of age.

Secondly, this bill requires the Gaming Commission to digitize its
current self-exclusion process for gambling, which allows individuals to
voluntarily exclude themselves from all brick and mortar gaming facili-
ties in the state. Individuals can currently self-exclude for one year,
three years, five years, or a lifetime, but may request removal from the
self-exclusion list at the end of their chosen term.  Individuals apply
for self-exclusion by filling out a physical form which they must get
notarized and mail to the Gaming Commission. The commission then main-
tains a database of self-excluded individuals and sends it to all gaming
operators in the state, including mobile sports betting operators, who
must check it at the point of entry or account creation.

This bill would expand the existing exclusion process for mobile sports
betting, allowing individuals to electronically submit any identifying
information, so long as it is unique to the individual, to a virtual
database that the Gaming Commission would maintain. In addition to
allowing problem online sports gamblers to constrain themselves from
betting activity, this electronic database would have the added benefit
of allowing parents to register their identifying info, such as a Social
Security number, phone number, credit card, or other piece of unique
data, to prevent their children from using such data to illegally create
an account. Parents would also be able to register an IP address belong-
ing to a specific device, such as a minor's smartphone or family desk-
top, to prevent it from being able to download and launch mobile sports
betting apps.

While numerous sportsbook operators currently allow parents to disquali-
fy themselves and their children from online betting, this process
requires parents to disqualify from each app and platform one by one,
which can be prohibitively cumbersome. Under this bill, the parent would
only need to register their identifying information once, and the Gaming
Commission would then undertake the task of making sure all operators in
the state have access to and are using the database.

In creating a centralized digital database that allows parents to easily
prevent their identifying info from being used to create an account,
while also requiring gaming apps to undertake commercially reasonable
age assurance, this bill presents a commonsense and practical approach
to the growing problem of underage sports betting in New York State and
its deeply disturbing consequences.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2025: S7908 - Referred to Racing, Gaming, and Wagering

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.
1 "Governor Hochul Announces Mobile Sports Wagering Generated $862
Million for New York State in Its Second Year of Operation I Governor
Kathy Hochul." www.governorny.gov, 12 Jan. 2024,
www.govemor.ny.govinews/govemor-hochul-announces-mobile-sports-wagering-
generated-862- million-new-york-state-its. Accessed 5BC.

2025-S7908A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7908--A
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed  to be committed to the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wager-
   ing -- recommitted to the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering  in
   accordance  with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- reported favorably from said
   committee and committed to  the  Committee  on  Finance  --  committee
   discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
   to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in
   relation to preventing minors from participating in sports wagering
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 1344 of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breed-
 ing law is amended by adding a new subdivision 6 to read as follows:
   6.  THE  COMMISSION SHALL FURTHER PROVIDE BY REGULATION FOR THE ESTAB-
 LISHMENT OF AN EXCLUSION LIST  FOR  IDENTIFYING  INFORMATION  ON  MOBILE
 SPORTS  WAGERING  PLATFORMS AS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPH (K) OF SUBDIVISION
 TWELVE OF SECTION THIRTEEN HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN  OF  THIS  ARTICLE.  SUCH
 REGULATIONS SHALL ALLOW PERSONS TO ELECTRONICALLY REGISTER FOR PLACEMENT
 ON SUCH LIST.
   §  2. Paragraphs (bb) and (cc) of subdivision 1 of section 1367 of the
 racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, as amended by  section  3
 of  part  Y  of  chapter 59 of the laws of 2021, are amended and two new
 paragraphs (dd) and (ee) are added to read as follows:
   (bb) "Suspicious wagering activity" means  unusual  wagering  activity
 that  cannot be explained and is indicative of match fixing, the manipu-
 lation of an event, misuse of inside information,  or  other  prohibited
 activity; [and]
   (cc)  "Independent  integrity monitor" means an independent individual
 or entity approved by the  commission  to  receive  reports  of  unusual
 wagering  activity  from  a  casino, mobile sports wagering licensee, or

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11781-07-6
 S. 7908--A                          2

 
 commission for the purpose of assisting in identifying suspicious wager-
 ing activity[.];
   (DD) "IDENTIFYING INFORMATION" MEANS ANY DATA THAT IDENTIFIES OR COULD
 REASONABLY  BE  LINKED,  DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, WITH A SPECIFIC NATURAL
 PERSON OR DEVICE. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AS USED IN THIS SECTION AND IN
 SECTION THIRTEEN HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN-A OF THIS ARTICLE  MAY  INCLUDE  AN
 INTERNET PROTOCOL ADDRESS; AND
   (EE)  "INTERNET  PROTOCOL ADDRESS" MEANS A UNIQUE NUMERICAL IDENTIFIER
 ASSIGNED TO A DEVICE THAT CAN BE USED TO DIRECT INTERNET TRAFFIC TO SUCH
 DEVICE.
   § 3. Paragraph (i) of subdivision 12 of section 1367  of  the  racing,
 pari-mutuel  wagering  and breeding law, as added by section 3 of part Y
 of chapter 59 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
   (i) Casinos and mobile sports wagering licensees  shall  adopt  proce-
 dures  to prevent persons from wagering on sports events who are prohib-
 ited from placing sports wagers. A  casino  or  mobile  sports  wagering
 licensee shall not accept wagers from any person:
   (i) whose name appears on the exclusion list maintained by the commis-
 sion and provided to the casino or mobile sports wagering licensee;
   (ii)  whose  name appears on any self-exclusion list maintained by the
 commission and provided to the casino or mobile sports  wagering  licen-
 see;
   (iii)  WHO  IS  ATTEMPTING TO CREATE AN ACCOUNT OR PLACE A WAGER USING
 EXCLUDED IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPH (K)  OF  THIS
 SUBDIVISION;
   (IV) who is the operator, director, officer, owner, or employee of the
 casino  or mobile sports wagering licensee or any spouse, child, sibling
 or parent living in the same principal place of abode as  such  individ-
 ual;
   [(iv)]  (V) who has been identified as a prohibited sports bettor in a
 list provided by the sports governing body to the commission and  casino
 or  mobile  sports  wagering operator, that identifies the individual by
 such personally identifiable information as specified by rules and regu-
 lations promulgated by the commission; or
   [(v)] (VI) who is an agent or proxy for a prohibited sports bettor.
   § 4. Subdivision 12 of section 1367 of the racing, pari-mutuel  wager-
 ing and breeding law is amended by adding a new paragraph (k) to read as
 follows:
   (K)  (I)  THE  COMMISSION SHALL ESTABLISH A MEANS BY WHICH PERSONS MAY
 ELECTRONICALLY REGISTER ANY  OF  THEIR  IDENTIFYING  INFORMATION  ON  AN
 EXCLUSION  LIST  FOR THE PURPOSES OF PREVENTING THEMSELVES AND ANY OTHER
 PERSON, INCLUDING A MINOR, FROM USING  SUCH  INFORMATION  TO  CREATE  AN
 ACCOUNT ON A MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING PLATFORM.
   (II) MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING OPERATORS SHALL BE PROHIBITED FROM PERMIT-
 TING  THE REGISTRATION OF ANY ACCOUNT WITH SUCH IDENTIFYING INFORMATION,
 PROVIDED THAT THE COMMISSION HAS PROVIDED MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING  OPERA-
 TORS ACCESS TO SUCH EXCLUDED IDENTIFYING INFORMATION.
   (III) THE COMMISSION SHALL PROMULGATE REGULATIONS UNDER THIS PARAGRAPH
 TO  ENSURE:  THE  SECURE  COLLECTION AND TRANSMITTAL OF SUCH IDENTIFYING
 INFORMATION TO MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING OPERATORS, AS PROVIDED IN SUBPARA-
 GRAPH (II) OF THIS PARAGRAPH; THE  UNIQUENESS  AND  RELIABILITY  OF  THE
 IDENTIFYING INFORMATION BEING COLLECTED; AND THAT THE IDENTIFYING INFOR-
 MATION  IS  STRICTLY  PROTECTED BY DATA SECURITY MEASURES, INCLUDING BUT
 NOT LIMITED TO ENCRYPTION,  FIREWALLS,  AND  PASSWORD  PROTECTION,  DATA
 SYSTEM  MONITORING,  LIMITATIONS  ON ACCESS TO AUTHORIZED PERSONS WITHIN
 THE COMMISSION, AND  OTHER  REASONABLE  ADMINISTRATIVE,  TECHNICAL,  AND
 S. 7908--A                          3
 
 PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS TO PROTECT THE SECURITY, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND INTEG-
 RITY  OF  IDENTIFYING  INFORMATION  PROVIDED BY PERSONS UNDER THIS PARA-
 GRAPH.
   (IV)  PERSONS  SUBMITTING  THEIR IDENTIFYING INFORMATION FOR EXCLUSION
 FROM MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING UNDER THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL RETAIN THE  RIGHT
 TO  VOLUNTARILY  RESCIND SUCH EXCLUSION AT ANY TIME, AT WHICH POINT SUCH
 IDENTIFYING INFORMATION SHALL BE DELETED FROM THE COMMISSION'S DATABASE.
   § 5. Subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 4  of  section
 1367-a of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, as added by
 section  4  of  part  Y of chapter 59 of the laws of 2021, is amended to
 read as follows:
   (iii) (A) prohibit minors from participating in  any  sports  wagering
 pursuant  to  rules  and regulations promulgated by the commission. SUCH
 RULES AND REGULATIONS SHALL REQUIRE THE OPERATOR TO CONDUCT  AGE  ASSUR-
 ANCE TO DETERMINE, AT THE POINT OF ACCOUNT REGISTRATION, THAT THE PERSON
 CREATING  AN  ACCOUNT  IS  NOT  A MINOR. THE COMMISSION SHALL PROMULGATE
 REGULATIONS IDENTIFYING COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE AND TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE
 METHODS FOR MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING OPERATORS TO DETERMINE IF A PERSON IS
 A MINOR, CONSIDERING THE SIZE, FINANCIAL RESOURCES, AND TECHNICAL  CAPA-
 BILITIES  OF THE MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING PLATFORM OPERATED BY SUCH OPERA-
 TOR, THE COSTS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF AVAILABLE  AGE  DETERMINATION  TECH-
 NIQUES,  THE  AUDIENCE  OF  THE  MOBILE  SPORTS  WAGERING  PLATFORM, AND
 PREVALENT PRACTICES OF THE INDUSTRY OF THE MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING OPERA-
 TOR AND OTHER SIMILAR DIGITAL INDUSTRIES.  SUCH REGULATIONS  SHALL  ALSO
 IDENTIFY  THE  APPROPRIATE LEVELS OF ACCURACY THAT WOULD BE COMMERCIALLY
 REASONABLE AND TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE FOR MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING OPERATORS
 TO ACHIEVE IN DETERMINING WHETHER A PERSON IS A MINOR, PROVIDED,  HOWEV-
 ER,  THAT  A  PERSON  SELF-REPORTING  THEIR AGE WITH NO OTHER SUPPORTING
 EVIDENCE SHALL NOT BE DEEMED AN ACCEPTABLE METHOD  UNDER  THIS  SUBPARA-
 GRAPH.  ANY  INFORMATION  COLLECTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE AGE ASSURANCE
 REQUIREMENT UNDER THIS SUBPARAGRAPH SHALL BE DELETED  IMMEDIATELY  AFTER
 AN  ATTEMPT  TO  DETERMINE  A  PERSON'S  AGE, EXCEPT WHERE NECESSARY FOR
 APPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF STATE OR FEDERAL LAW OR REGULATION.
   (B) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBPARAGRAPH, A  MOBILE  SPORTS  WAGERING
 OPERATOR SHALL TREAT A PERSON AS A MINOR IF THE PERSON'S DEVICE COMMUNI-
 CATES  OR  SIGNALS  THAT  THE  PERSON IS OR SHALL BE TREATED AS A MINOR,
 INCLUDING THROUGH A PRIVACY SETTING, DEVICE SETTING, OR OTHER MECHANISM;
   § 6. Severability. If any provision of this act or  application there-
 of shall  for  any   reason   be   adjudged by any  court  of  competent
 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,  impair,  or
 invalidate the remainder of the act, but shall be confined in its opera-
 tion  to  the  provision thereof directly involved in the controversy in
 which the judgment shall have been rendered.
   § 7. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
 completed on or before such effective date.

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Senate Bill S7908A

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Feb 10, 2026 - Racing, Gaming And Wagering Committee Vote

Racing, Gaming And Wagering Committee Vote: Feb 10, 2026

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2025-S7908 - Details

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Sponsored By

Andrew Gounardes

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

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Bill Amendments

2025-S7908 - Details

2025-S7908 - Summary

2025-S7908 - Sponsor Memo

2025-S7908 - Bill Text download pdf

2025-S7908A (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S7908A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S7908A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S7908A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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