A bipartisan House bill would require online sportsbooks and prediction markets to estimate user age through facial technology before accepting a wager or trade. The proposal targets minors who access verified accounts belonging to adults.
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Sportsbooks already verify identity during account registration, but that check may not confirm who later holds the phone. Representative Josh Gottheimer said children can use accounts owned by parents, siblings or friends with little added verification.
“We’re asking our kids to self-police their way past a system built entirely on the honor code. A kid can log into a parent’s, an older sibling’s, or a friend’s account and place a bet with no verification at all. Nobody checks. That’s it. That’s the whole system,” Gottheimer said. “We wouldn’t accept that at a casino in Las Vegas. We shouldn’t accept it on the phone in our kid’s back pocket.”
The Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act would require facial age estimation when users log in or prepare to bet. Technology would analyse facial structure and patterns rather than confirm identity.
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said the prediction market already uses account monitoring, optional facial identification, two-factor authentication and selfie checks for higher-risk access.
“Protecting kids should be a no-brainer and is a top priority at Kalshi,” Mansour said. “Beyond what’s required of us, we already self-regulate and have a suite of measures in place to keep minors off our platform. But this can’t just be one company’s responsibility — it has to be an industry standard. I am grateful to Congressman Gottheimer and Congressman Van Drew for driving it forward.”
The proposal covers two sectors with different regulatory structures. State agencies generally oversee online sportsbooks, while federally regulated exchanges offer prediction contracts under CFTC oversight. A federal age rule would create one requirement across both markets.
Gottheimer cited more than 400 underage sportsbook accounts found in Tennessee during 2024 and over 80 reported cases in Iowa. His office also said 36% of boys aged 11 to 17 gambled during the previous year.
Representatives Jeff Van Drew, Nick LaLota, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Jimmy Panetta, Darren Soto, Tom Suozzi, Ritchie Torres and Bruce Westerman joined as co-sponsors.