RELEASE: To Protect Children, Gottheimer Introduces New Bipartisan Bill Requiring Facial Recognition Age Verification for Online Sportsbooks Requires Age Checks Before Children Can Bet or Trade Underage 36% of boys aged 11-17 Have Gambled in the Past Year Backed by ParentsRISE and Kalshi Above: Gottheimer introduces legislation to protect children. WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), joined by Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and additional supporting Members of Congress, introduced the bipartisan “Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act,” new legislation requiring prediction markets and online sportsbooks to use facial recognition technology to verify a user’s age before they can place a bet or trade. Watch Gottheimer’s full remarks here. Last year, American bettors wagered roughly $160 billion on sports, generating about $16 billion in industry revenue — more than Americans spend on movies, books, concerts, and professional sports tickets combined. - Research shows 36 percent of boys ages 11 to 17 have gambled in the past year, a figure that climbs to 40 percent for boys 14 to 17, and more than a quarter of those kids report real consequences, including stress, conflict at home, and problems at school, according to Common Sense Media. - In Iowa, more than 80 reports of underage betting have been sent to the state’s Division of Criminal Investigation. - In Tennessee, sportsbooks flagged more than 400 underage accounts in 2024, up from roughly 100 the year before. It’s not just betting apps, either. A lot of video games today are designed to feel like gambling and hook kids early. Loot boxes, player packs, cosmetics. They train their brains on that same dopamine loop, priming them to bet with real money. Kalshi and ParentsRISE support the bill, and Gottheimer has called on every single sportsbook and prediction market in this