U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer introduced bipartisan legislation on July 15 that would require online sportsbooks and prediction markets to use facial-recognition technology to verify a user’s age before a bet or trade is placed.
In a release, Gottheimer said the Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act would estimate age by analyzing facial structure and patterns at login or before a wager. His office said the system would not store a user’s identity or personal biometric information.
Gottheimer said the goal is to stop minors from using a parent’s, sibling’s or friend’s account to gamble online. He argued that the standard should be no looser on a phone than in a casino, where age checks are routine.
The bill is backed by Kalshi and ParentsRISE. Kalshi chief executive Tarek Mansour called protecting children a top priority and said the issue should become an industry standard; the company also said it already self-regulates and has measures in place to keep minors off its platform.
The legislation is co-sponsored by Jeff Van Drew, Nick LaLota, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Jimmy Panetta, Darren Soto, Tom Suozzi, Ritchie Torres and Bruce Westerman. Gottheimer’s release said it builds on his Parents Decide Act, which would require device makers to verify age when a phone or tablet is set up.
The congressman’s office cited Common Sense Media research saying 36% of boys ages 11 to 17 gambled in the past year. A separate report on the bill said the figure was 40% for boys aged 14 to 17 and that more than a quarter of those reporting consequences cited stress, conflict at home and academic problems.
That report also said Americans wagered about $160 billion on sports last year and that the industry generated about $16 billion in revenue. It said authorities in Iowa received more than 80 reports of underage betting, while sportsbooks in Tennessee flagged more than 400 underage accounts in 2024.
Online sportsbooks generally require users to be 21, while prediction markets can allow participants as young as 18 to trade event contracts. A Congressional Research Service brief said those contracts have binary payoffs tied to whether an event occurs and have expanded from economic indicators and weather into politics and sports amid litigation and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s regulatory posture.
