Sponsor
Paul Tonko
Representative · D-NY
Representative · D-NY
Official title: To establish minimum Federal standards for sports betting, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Paul Tonko · Last progress March 11, 2025
The bill centralizes data collection, public‑health tools, consumer protections, and clearer tax/regulatory claims for sports wagering — improving oversight and treatment capacity — but does so at the cost of heightened privacy risks, greater compliance and enforcement burdens (especially for small operators), and potential jurisdictional conflicts with Tribes and non‑opt‑in States.
People with gambling disorder and at‑risk bettors gain a nationwide self‑exclusion mechanism and stronger addiction‑treatment resources that make it easier to block wagering across jurisdictions and access prevention/treatment funding.
Researchers, public‑health officials, and regulators get standardized anonymized transaction data and a national surveillance framework, improving monitoring of online sports‑wagering prevalence, harms, and policy evaluation.
Consumers are better protected by age limits (under‑21 bans), clearer disclosures, real odds and cancellation rights, operator recordkeeping and reserve requirements, and mandated funding for responsible‑gaming and treatment.
Consumers and people who use wagering platforms face heightened privacy and re‑identification risks because the law requires detailed identity, location (including IP), and transaction data collection and reporting.
Small operators and new entrants are likely to face substantial new compliance costs (detailed reporting, background checks, licensing, suitability rules) that raise barriers to entry, reduce competition, and may be passed on to consumers.
Per‑wager civil penalties (up to three times the wager or $10,000) create risk of catastrophic liabilities for operators and small businesses for individual infractions.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal prohibition on accepting sports wagers except in Attorney General‑approved State programs; adds HHS public‑health surveillance and a National Self‑Exclusion List.
Creates a new federal framework that generally prohibits accepting sports wagers nationwide while allowing States that apply and are approved to run authorized state sports-wagering programs. It defines key terms for online and interstate sports wagering, sets civil penalties and federal injunctive enforcement, and establishes a federal approval process for State programs. The bill also adds public‑health authorities: HHS must run annual surveys of online sports betting, create a National Self‑Exclusion List, enhance surveillance of gambling harms, and report to Congress. The law preserves Tribal and State taxing and regulatory authority, treats interactive wagers as occurring where the accepting server is located for Indian Gaming Regulatory Act purposes, and requires cooperation to shut down unlicensed offshore platforms.