US Senators introduce bill targeting gambling ads aimed at minors
US Sens. Katie Britt and Richard Blumenthal have introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at restricting online gambling ads targeting minors.
The Gaming Advertisement to Minors Enforcement Act would prohibit social media sites from directing sports betting and prediction market ads to users under 18. The bill would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and take effect one year after becoming law.
The legislation comes at a time of growing concern in Washington over the rise of underage gambling, particularly via social media feeds.
According to the senators, recent studies show that young people are increasingly being exposed to gambling ads online.
One study has found that 45% of adolescent boys who gamble have seen gambling-related content online, while 59% reported this content appearing in their feeds without searching for it.
Another 2024 study found that those who start gambling before age 18 are 50% more likely to develop gambling problems later in life. The senators referenced research suggesting many parents are unaware their children may be gambling online.
Under the proposed legislation, companies that repeatedly violate the law could face Department of Justice action and financial penalties of up to US$100,000 per advertisement shown to a minor promoting sports gambling.
In March, Sen. Blumenthal introduced legislation to create stronger regulations for prediction markets.
Charlotte Capewell brings her passion for storytelling and expertise in writing, researching, and the gambling industry to every article she writes. Her specialties include the US gambling industry, regulator legislation, igaming, and more.
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The Backstory
Why the ad fight is escalating now
The bipartisan push to curb gambling ads aimed at minors arrives after years of rapid expansion in legal sports wagering and a parallel rise in youth exposure to betting content online. Since the Supreme Court cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting in 2018, mobile sportsbooks have piled into new markets, turbocharged by social media marketing and in-game integrations. Lawmakers increasingly argue that the same targeting tools that helped platforms find adult customers have also placed gambling promotions in front of teenagers, whether intentionally or through algorithmic spillover.
Concern in Washington sharpened this spring as senators sought fresh federal data on how deeply online betting has penetrated youth behavior. A bipartisan group led by Sens. Katie Britt and Dick Durbin asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study youth and young adult wagering and to add questions to federal risk surveys, citing limited but worrisome indicators of student gambling. That appeal, detailed in a report on the CDC letter, underscores a legislative strategy: pair ad restrictions with better surveillance of underage participation and related harms.
The bill at issue would put the Federal Trade Commission in charge of enforcing a ban on directing social media ads for sports betting and prediction markets to users under 18, with the Justice Department able to pursue repeat offenders. The proposed penalties — up to $100,000 per prohibited ad shown to a minor — are sized to influence platform and operator behavior quickly, especially given the scale and speed of digital ad delivery. The sponsors cast the measure as a response to research showing adolescents frequently encounter gambling content in feeds without seeking it and that earlier exposure is tied to higher problem gambling risk later in life.
Canadian momentum adds pressure across the border
While U.S. lawmakers press for targeted curbs, Canada is weighing broader federal rules after an advertising surge that followed the 2021 legalization of single-event wagering. Senators there have urged the government to move toward a sweeping prohibition on betting promotions, arguing that ubiquitous ads have turned phones into pocket casinos and heightened risks for youth and vulnerable users. Their plea to the prime minister, and the political support behind it, is outlined in a letter from two senators calling for a federal ban on betting ads.
In parallel, a measure that would not ban advertising outright but would force Ottawa to craft a national framework to restrict it is advancing. The Senate Transport and Communications Committee sent Bill S-211 forward, reviving an effort that cleared the Senate last year before dying when Parliament was prorogued. The bill’s backers cite pervasiveness and exposure-linked participation as reasons to act preemptively. Details on the latest step appear in coverage of S-211’s committee passage. Major sports leagues oppose the measure, but the legislative drumbeat, combined with public unease, signals that tougher national guardrails are in play.
For U.S. policymakers, Canada’s experience is a case study in how quickly advertising volume can reshape public perception and policy. It also illustrates the range of responses on the table: from full prohibitions that mirror tobacco restrictions to structured frameworks that limit when, where and how betting promotions appear. The U.S. bill aimed at minors fits on the narrower end of that spectrum, but it lands amid a broader North American reassessment of gambling’s marketing footprint.
Platforms are rewriting the rulebook
Regulatory risk is not the only driver. Platforms that act as gatekeepers for audience access are tightening their own policies, often in anticipation of or response to shifting laws. Google, for example, will bar advertisements for rummy and daily fantasy sports directed at Indian audiences starting Jan. 21, 2026, aligning with India’s emerging rules that reclassify gaming activities. The change, laid out in Google’s India-focused ad policy update, follows earlier moves to restrict sweepstakes casino marketing.
Although India’s regulatory landscape is distinct, the business implication is universal: when a dominant ad network turns off a customer-acquisition channel, operators scramble for costlier alternatives and face higher compliance burdens. For U.S. social platforms, a federal prohibition on targeting minors with betting ads would force similar rewiring — age-screening protocols hardened, interest-based segments trimmed, and campaign measurement recalibrated to avoid even accidental underage impressions. That carries operational cost for platforms and conversion risk for sportsbooks accustomed to precision targeting.
States tighten enforcement beyond advertising
Even as Congress weighs ad limits, states are moving to shut down adjacent gray markets that often blur lines for young users. Iowa enacted a law empowering regulators to issue cease-and-desist orders and seek injunctions against unlicensed gambling, including sweepstakes casinos, unlicensed daily fantasy sports and illegal sports wagering. The measure, which passed with unanimous votes in both chambers and takes effect July 1, is described in coverage of Iowa’s crackdown on unregulated gaming.
The state-level enforcement push complements ad-focused proposals by reducing the supply of quasi-gambling products that can appear in social feeds or app stores with lighter safeguards. It also sets a template other jurisdictions can follow quickly. With similar bills floated elsewhere — and governors willing to veto or revise the contours — the patchwork will evolve, but the signal is clear: regulators want more authority to act against products that look and feel like betting even if operators dispute the classification.
What it means for sportsbooks, leagues and teens
The stakes are high across the ecosystem. For sportsbooks, the risk is twofold: reduced access to a future customer base and heightened scrutiny of affiliate and influencer marketing that can skirt formal age-targeting rules. For leagues and broadcasters, any curbs on ad inventory tied to betting could hit near-term sponsorship revenue and force rebalancing of in-game promotional integrations. For platforms, failure to prevent underage delivery carries potential six-figure-per-ad liabilities under the proposed U.S. regime, which would concentrate compliance attention on audience segmentation and verification.
For families, the immediate consequence would be fewer gambling prompts infiltrating teen-dominated feeds and less normalization of wagering alongside sports highlights and memes. The broader public-health bet is that constraining exposure and delaying first contact lowers the long-run incidence of gambling problems — an argument that both U.S. and Canadian lawmakers are leaning on as they try to get ahead of downstream costs.
What to watch next
The U.S. bill would take effect one year after becoming law, a runway that allows platforms and operators to retool. The near-term markers to track include whether Congress moves to pair ad curbs with mandated federal data collection, building on the CDC study request, and how agencies draft guidance on what constitutes illegal targeting versus incidental exposure. In Canada, watch whether the government embraces a framework via S-211’s path through Parliament or shifts toward the more sweeping prohibition urged in the senators’ letter.
At the platform level, additional policy changes — akin to Google’s tightening in India — could arrive regardless of legislation as companies standardize global rules to simplify compliance. And at the state level, more bills like Iowa’s enforcement measure would signal continued appetite to constrain unregulated products often marketed through the same channels now drawing scrutiny in Washington.
Together, these strands form the backdrop for Congress’s latest effort: a targeted strike on youth-directed gambling ads that sits within a broader recalibration of how, where and to whom the industry can sell itself.
