The New York State Gaming Commission is at least willing to consider the use of biometrics to confirm the age of sports betting users.
That is according to a memo sent Wednesday from Chairman Brian O’Dwyer, who was responding to Gov. Kathy Hochul‘s call to do more to keep kids from gambling in her 2026 State of the State address. Hochul expanded on the idea with ESPN, suggesting biometrics like facial recognition or fingerprints for age verification.
Along with ways to prevent kids from accessing online sports betting accounts, there could be consequences for adults that share their accounts with anyone under 21, Dwyer said.
Full Dwyer statement on sports betting tools
Here is the full statement from Chairman Dwyer:
“The Gaming Commission fully supports and applauds Governor Hochul’s commitment to protect New Yorkers, including safeguards to prevent underage individuals from gambling and employing innovative tech to identify and help those who may be experiencing gambling harms.
“The Commission will consider actions to prevent underage access, including the possibility of biometric requirements for account access and real consequences for those who share their legal accounts with underage individuals. We will also continue to work with [the Office of Addiction Services and Supports] to implement the latest technology into the online sports wagering process to best position access to help for those who need it.”
Many proposed changes for online gambling
Using biometrics is just one of the ways the online gambling industry could change in New York with more than a dozen active bills. Those bills include legalizing online casino as well as some potential critical changes for online sports betting:
- A 382: Expanded advertising restrictions, including requiring a gambling hotline number to be shown throughout video ads.
- A 2151: Establish a problem gambling advisory council.
- A 4279: Prohibits betting operators from sending push notifications or texts
- A 4280: Requires online sports betting operators to establish default betting limits that allows customers to opt-out.
- A 6512: Prohibits limiting or banning players unless they hit certain win/loss thresholds.
- A 6937: Prohibits reversible withdrawals.
- S 2615: Allows the use of 1% of mobile sports betting tax revenue to be used for problem gambling.
- S 2616: Allow season-long prop bets and betting on future award winners, such as MVP.
