New York Sports Betting Limitations Bill Fails to Advance

Efforts to further legalize sports betting in New York were foiled this legislative session, as Assembly Bill A7962 did not pass beyond the Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee. Sponsored by Assemblyman Robert C. Carroll in April, the bill would impose sweeping restrictions on the fiscal business and promotion of the state's licensed sportsbooks. It will not move this year.

At the heart of the bill were provisions to limit betting activity per day. An operator would have to restrict customers to making a maximum of five deposits within 24 hours and prevent them from betting more than $5,000 on one event or a maximum of $5,000 on events during a day. 

The bill also intended to prohibit using credit cards for depositing at sportsbooks in the New York sports betting market, a significant shift in how customers could deposit into their betting accounts.

The bill also addressed advertising, which Assemblyman Carroll believed was underregulated. The bill would have banned advertisements that used promotion-oriented terminology, including the terms "bonus," "no sweat," and "bonus bet." It would have prohibited ads that referred to odds boosts or similar promotions. With its failure, it's the status quo for the best New York sportsbook promos.

New York sports betting apps and retail sites would also have been banned from airing advertisements between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. and from promoting their services live from sporting events at any time.

Designed to protect consumers

Carroll introduced the bill as a consumer protection measure, contending that lawmakers have a responsibility to ensure the industry is not exploiting players through unregulated advertising or unhealthy financial practices. He pointed to the potential harm to susceptible populations, including children and compulsive gamblers, who are more vulnerable to repeated advertising exposure. 

“My bill A7962 creates guardrails to protect NYers who participate in sports gambling. This nascent industry is lightly regulated and has harmed thousands of NYers. The least we could do is put specific monetary caps and advertising restrictions,” Carroll said in an X post. 

Yet critics of the bill argued that its restrictive provisions would drive gamblers into the arms of unregulated offshore operators who were not subject to U.S. law or consumer protection. They noted that New York already mandates problem gambling disclaimers and telephone hotline numbers on all sportsbook advertising. 

Critics also argued that the regulations in question would have minimal effects on curbing problem gambling and could potentially make the problem worse by pushing users onto less secure sites.

While A7962 did not advance, the legislature did advance with another bill related to gaming, a ban on sweepstakes-style casinos. The bill is awaiting to be signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

New York is a focal point of the national controversy over sports betting due to its 51% tax on revenue from online gambling, among the highest in the country.