Congress Pushes GAME Act to Stop Sports Betting Ads From Targeting Kids Online
Posted on: May 18, 2026, 02:21h.
Last updated on: May 18, 2026, 02:21h.
- The GAME Act would make it a federal offense for a major social media platform to allow an advertisement targeting minors with sports betting products or services
- The legislation would also forbid prediction markets from targeting minors with online ads
A new bill in Congress seeks to crack down on sports betting advertisements targeting kids online.
On Monday, US Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) filed the Gaming Advertisement to Minors Enforcement Act. Dubbed the GAME Act, the bill would prohibit social media platforms and certain online websites and applications from accepting advertising that targets minors with sports betting products and services.
The rise in sports gambling among minors, particularly among young boys, is jarring,” said Britt. “Our legislation takes a critical step toward addressing this problem before it worsens.”
The GAME Act would allow the Federal Trade Commission to impose financial penalties of up to $100,000 per advertising offense involving minors being targeted with sports gambling materials. Failure to comply with the law could additionally result in injunctive relief sought through the courts.
Along with social media, the GAME Act’s covered digital advertising platforms include websites, online services, and applications that derive revenue from advertising and count more than 100 million unique monthly users or visitors.
Prediction Markets Not Immune
The GAME Act would apply to prediction markets, controversial trading platforms that are federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Last year, platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket began offering trading on the outcomes of sports.
Britt and Blumenthal define a “sports gambling platform” as including “a service marketed as allowing an individual to invest in prediction markets.”
“We know targeted advertising from gambling and prediction market websites can serve as the gateway to dangerous habits that too often become crippling addictions,” Britt continued.
Sportsbooks and prediction markets are treating young people like a gold rush, flooding the internet with advertisements and promotions to hook them on gambling when they’re young,” said Blumenthal. “High schoolers, even middle schoolers, are now gambling on their phones as never before, losing real money and creating life-altering addiction.”
Britt explained that when she was a child, parents didn’t have to worry about whether their children were safe while in their rooms.
“In today’s digital age, that is sadly no longer the case — dangers can enter our homes every single day through the palm of our children’s hands,” Britt said. “Youth gambling addictions could be developing under parents’ roofs without them even knowing it, which is why it’s critical that we help parents combat this.”
Congressional Roundup
The explosion of prediction markets has led to numerous pieces of legislation being filed in Congress in recent months. Along with the GAME Act, they include:
- BETS Off Act — US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) propose forcing the CFTC to exclude prediction markets from offering trading contracts related to “government actions, terrorism, war, assassination, and events where an individual knows or controls the outcome.”
- PREDICT Act — US Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) and Adrian Smith (R-AZ) suggest excluding members of Congress and their staffers, as well as lobbyists and other insiders, from participating on a prediction market.
- DEATH Bets Act — US Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) propose requiring the CFTC to ban any contract linked to war, terrorism, assassination, and similar “death” outcomes.
- Prediction Markets Security and Integrity Act — US Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Blumenthal propose making it illegal for a CFTC-regulated prediction market to offer trading on sports events.
- Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act — US Sens. John Curtis (R-UT) and Blumenthal seek to prohibit sports and any other casino-style option trading on prediction markets.
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