United States gambling advertising compliance brief

Licensing and permitted advertising

The priority regulators are NJDGE, PGCB, MGCB, Connecticut DCP, Delaware Lottery, Rhode Island Lottery and West Virginia Lottery. The supplied evidence does not establish a current operator-by-operator licence list or complete product and advertising permissions for these states.

• New Jersey: NJDGE's Advertising Best Practices instructs operators to file all advertisements and promotions before use under N.J.A.C. 13:69O-1.8(g), including affiliate material. It expressly says this is not preapproval; the Division audits implemented advertising and promotions.
• Connecticut: DCP's official page lists regulations covering online casino gaming and retail and online sports wagering, but the extract does not reproduce substantive advertising requirements.
• Delaware: Title 10, regulation 203, paragraph 6.15 requires agency-approved advertising and promotional activities related to covered table game or video lottery operations. Application to online casino or sportsbook advertising is unconfirmed.
• West Virginia: the Lottery's official index lists Rule 179-09 for sports wagering and Rule 179-10 for interactive wagering. Their advertising provisions are not reproduced.
• Pennsylvania and Michigan: detailed advertising licensing, approval and filing requirements are unconfirmed. Rhode Island: the AGA guide reports legalised and regulated internet gaming, but current advertising permissions and conditions are unconfirmed.
• New York, separately: § 5329.37 requires covered casino sports wagering licensees and sports pool vendors to identify themselves in advertising. Advertising by other entities, and advertising forms of illegal gambling, requires a conspicuous disclaimer that the offerings are unavailable in the state. This does not authorise unlawful wagering or establish permission to advertise online casino products.

Audience and age rules

No single US minimum gambling age is assigned. RG.org's September 2026 secondary overview reports sportsbook ages of 21 in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware and West Virginia, and 18 in Rhode Island. Primary-source confirmation of those ages and online casino age requirements is unconfirmed in the supplied extracts.

• New Jersey: NJDGE's guidance says advertisements must not include images, likenesses or themes targeting the underage demographic and must not be presented to potentially at-risk patrons. The extract does not define that audience or prescribe a programmatic suppression method.
• The AGA reports New Jersey restrictions concerning media primarily appealing to underage people or underage audience composition. The precise threshold and product scope remain unconfirmed.
• New York sports wagering: advertisements must not target people below the statutory wagering age or appeal primarily to them through cartoons, entertainers or music.
• New York sports wagering: broadcast, cable, radio, print and digital placements must not have a reasonably foreseeable underage audience share greater than the state's underage population share, measured using the most recent completed decennial census.
• New York: sports wagering advertising is prohibited in college- or university-owned news assets and on campuses, except for generally available advertising not targeted to the campus area. Covered operator-owned websites and profiles containing sports betting content must carry a legal-age reminder.
• Numeric advertising audience thresholds and advertising age-verification requirements for Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island and West Virginia are unconfirmed.

Creative and content rules

NJDGE describes its Advertising Best Practices as minimum baseline guidance covering print, broadcast and digital advertising. Its statements of statutory obligations are distinguished below from voluntary recommendations.

• New Jersey: NJDGE states that advertisements are required by statute to contain responsible gaming language. Microscopic or unreadable helpline text in regional advertising is prohibited, and radio, broadcast and digital responsible gaming disclaimers must be concise and clear. Exact wording and numeric dimensions are unconfirmed.
• New Jersey: advertisements must not mislead, including through claims of 'guaranteed wins' or 'risk free' bets, particularly where patrons risk their own deposited funds without full compensation for losses. Advertisements must not present misconceptions about online games.
• New Jersey: advertising and marketing must not appear on responsible gaming pages of the operator's website or applications. Dedicated responsible-gaming-only advertisements are encouraged, but the document expressly says they are not mandated by state law or regulation.
• New York sports wagering: advertisements, including affiliate material, must not mislead about winning chances, numbers of winners or wagering terms. They must not promote excessive gambling, guaranteed personal or financial success, chasing losses, reinvesting winnings or gambling as an escape from problems.
• New York sports wagering: creative must not imply gambling is risk-free or describe a wager as free where the patron must incur a loss or risk their own money to use or withdraw winnings. Placement in media primarily devoted to responsible gaming is prohibited.
• New York sports wagering: depictions of underage people, students, schools and colleges are restricted, with stated incidental-image and professional-athlete exceptions. College athlete, school, college and college athletic association endorsements are prohibited.
• Equivalent detailed creative specifications for Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island and West Virginia are unconfirmed.

Channel-specific rules

The following specifications are state-specific. The New York warning rules in § 5325.6 cover gaming facility advertising; § 5329.37 also requires covered sports wagering advertisements to comply with that section's responsible gaming requirements. They are not a nationwide online casino rule set.

• Display — New Jersey: NJDGE's baseline guidance includes digital advertising, responsible gaming language, concise and clear disclaimers, non-misleading content and placement restrictions. The supplied extract gives no numeric display warning size.
• Display — New York: the quoted provisions require the problem gambling assistance message on each covered webpage or profile page and any gaming-related advertisement posted there. Message font height must be at least the same size as the majority of text on the webpage or profile page. Covered sports wagering digital placements also face the audience-composition restriction.
• Video/CTV — New Jersey: the guidance covers broadcast and digital formats and requires concise and clear responsible gaming disclaimers. A CTV-specific classification, warning duration and numeric font size are unconfirmed.
• Video/CTV — New York: unless the Commission approves otherwise in writing, one option is to display the assistance message throughout the advertisement, with font height at least 2% of the image's greater dimension. The alternative runs from the first visual or oral reference to a table game, table game device, slot machine, associated equipment or gaming facility name, and includes a dedicated screenshot for at least the final three seconds. Font height must be at least 2% during the advertisement and 8% on that dedicated screenshot. CTV-specific classification is unconfirmed.
• DOOH/outdoor — New Jersey: NJDGE describes its guidance as covering all forms of advertising, but does not supply separate DOOH specifications. NJDOT's outdoor advertising page states that an outdoor advertising licence is required where a sign advertises something other than the permit holder's business; the extract does not establish all exceptions or site requirements.
• DOOH/outdoor — New York: unless approved otherwise in writing, assistance-message font height on signs, posters and other print advertising must be the greater of the majority text size and 2% of the medium's greater dimension. For billboards it must be at least 5% of the billboard face's greater dimension. DOOH-specific classification is unconfirmed; campus-targeted sports wagering restrictions also affect location selection.
• Display, video/CTV and DOOH/outdoor specifications for Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island and West Virginia remain unconfirmed. No nationwide DOOH ban, outdoor exclusion distance or television watershed is verified. CASPR's quoted DOOH prohibition is model legislation, not evidence of an enacted rule.

Promotions and affiliates

The supplied New Jersey guidance and New York rules expressly address affiliate activity and promotions. Equivalent detailed requirements for the other priority states are unconfirmed.

• New Jersey: promotional terms must be clear and include conditions imposed on patrons, including wagering and withdrawal requirements. NJDGE says unrealistic promotional wagering requirements must not be offered and recommends contacting the Division before implementation where there is doubt.
• New Jersey: operators must provide an effective way to opt out of direct advertising, including advertising from contracted vendors. Affiliate advertisements and promotions are included in the filing-before-use instruction.
• New York: covered licensees and sports pool vendors are responsible for advertising conducted on their behalf or for their benefit. Affiliate partners must disclose promotional and referral relationships reasonably prominently; prohibited compensation arrangements are referenced but not reproduced in the extract.
• New York: promotions require clear disclosure of material terms and limitations and express informed consent where a deposit is required. Where patrons must wager their own funds to receive a reward, that amount must use the same font size and style as the reward amount, and the reward must not be described as free.
• New York: direct sports wagering advertisements must give a clear opt-out method. Requests must be completed as soon as practicable and within 15 days. This provision covers email, post and telephone, including texts, but excludes general website, social media and broadcast advertising.
• New York: registrants must retain each television, radio, print, digital or other advertisement for at least four years after its last appearance and provide records to the Commission on request.
• Affiliate registration requirements and specific programmatic self-exclusion or audience-suppression procedures across the seven priority states are unconfirmed.

Recent and upcoming changes

The supplied results do not establish a complete schedule of changes effective or forthcoming as at 22 September 2026. Newly verified requirements in this brief should not be mistaken for newly commenced legislation.

• The AGA guide was published on 8 July 2025 and covers laws and regulations as at 31 January 2025. Its sports wagering marketing code was most recently updated in March 2023; this is industry self-regulation, not nationwide legislation.
• WilmerHale's report dated 18 July 2025 records first-half 2025 enforcement against sweepstakes or unlicensed online casino operators in Connecticut, Delaware and Michigan. It identifies nine Michigan cease-and-desist letters in February 2025. These actions are not a new general advertising ban on licensed operators.
• The same report states that Connecticut's Governor signed legislation on 24 June 2025 making it unlawful to promote sweepstakes allowing or facilitating participation in real or simulated online casino games or sports wagering. The complete statutory scope, commencement date and current status are unconfirmed from the supplied extracts.
• The July 2025 report describes New Jersey sweepstakes legislation as awaiting signature or veto after legislative passage on 30 June 2025. Its subsequent status is unconfirmed.
• A report dated 10 July 2025 describes New Jersey A5207 as a proposal to prohibit online sports betting advertising. RG.org also describes New Jersey A4003 and Pennsylvania proposals concerning promotions to users of responsible gambling tools. Enactment and commencement are unconfirmed; these are not presented as operative bans.
• The publisher snippet referring to a 1 May 2026 advertising prohibition does not identify its jurisdiction and is not evidence of a US rule change.

Sources

• NJDGE — Advertising Best Practices
• New York State Gaming Commission — Advertising restrictions
• Connecticut DCP — Gaming laws and regulations
• Delaware Administrative Code — Title 10, regulation 203
• West Virginia Lottery — Rules and regulations
• NJDOT — Outdoor advertising ePermits
• AGA — Responsible Gaming Regulations and Statutes Guide, 8 July 2025
• RG.org — September 2026 sportsbook overview, secondary source
• WilmerHale — Legal developments in the gaming industry, 18 July 2025
• SBC Americas — Report discussing New Jersey A5207, 10 July 2025
• CASPR — Advertising restrictions and warnings, model legislation