New York Senator Proposes Ban on Billboard Gambling Ads

(AsiaGameHub) –   Advertisements for sports betting and other forms of gambling on public billboards could soon be outlawed in New York, should a state senator have her way.

Last week, Democratic Senator and former New York State Assembly member Nathalia Fernandez introduced a bill proposing a ban on billboard advertisements promoting “gambling or sports wagering services.”

The legislation must pass through the Senate’s Committee on Consumer Protection before it can reach the floor of New York’s upper chamber.

In addition to gambling-related ads, Fernandez’s bill also seeks to prohibit all digital and traditional billboard advertisements for tobacco, alcohol, and vaping products.

The draft bill explicitly includes within its scope “fantasy sports, lotteries, sweepstakes involving consideration and prize, […] and interactive gaming.”

The measure further defines any activity involving the placement or facilitation of wagers or bets for money or anything of value as gambling.

New York Billboard Gambling Ads Ban: An Alternative Option?

The same senator has introduced a second bill that may prove more acceptable to pro-gaming advocates and New York-based gambling operators.

Fernandez’s alternate proposal, submitted on the same day as the first, would require the state government to remove gambling-promoting billboard ads “exactly upon the last day of the advertising contract” and replace them with a public service announcement highlighting the health risks of gambling.

Under current New York state law, all gambling-related billboard advertisements are required to include messages about problem gambling, such as contact information for addiction hotlines.

These warning messages must occupy at least 5% of the billboard’s total face area, according to existing regulations.

Gambling Billboards: Stoking Controversy

The legality of gambling-related billboard advertisements varies significantly across U.S. states.

States like Alaska, Maine, and Vermont allow certain forms of gambling but have imposed complete bans on related billboard advertising.

Other states, including Utah and Hawaii, have banned gambling entirely. In Utah, lawmakers have reportedly sought to outlaw prediction markets—a move that could bring them into conflict with federal financial regulators.

This potential clash arises from statements by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and its Chairman, Michael Selig, who maintains that only the CFTC holds authority over prediction markets.

Earlier this month, Selig clarified that prediction market platforms and traditional gambling venues like sportsbooks and casinos are “two separate things.”

He described prediction market platforms such as Polymarket as “financial markets,” while characterizing conventional casinos as a form of “entertainment.”

Gambling billboard advertisements have also sparked controversy internationally. In recent months, several prominent buildings and transit hubs in Minsk, Belarus—including the National Library of Belarus—have displayed digital screens promoting various gambling services after dark.

Last year, numerous social media users voiced concerns over the widespread use of digital billboards advertising gambling services at some of Minsk’s most iconic locations.

Notable examples include the National Library of Belarus, a landmark situated in the heart of the Belarusian capital.