Pennsylvania may become the next major regulated US market to tighten the rules on how operators and affiliates promote online gambling. On June 8, State Reps. Tarik Khan (D-Philadelphia) and Jamie Flick (R-Lycoming/Union) introduced a bipartisan package — branded Protecting Public Health in Online Gambling — that frames problem gambling as a public-health issue and adds new consumer-protection rules for online casinos and sportsbooks.

The three measures are:

  • Pennsylvania Online Consumer Protection Act — caps how often players can deposit within a 24-hour window, restricts “predatory” marketing such as push notifications and text-message solicitations, tightens limits on youth-targeted advertising, and expands funding for prevention, education, treatment, and responsible-gaming programs.
  • Credit-card ban (House companion to Senate Bill 265) — prohibits funding online gambling accounts with credit cards.
  • Self-exclusion reinforcement (House companion to Senate Bill 266) — bars operators from marketing to anyone on the state’s self-exclusion list.

The push comes off the back of a record year: Pennsylvania’s iGaming revenue topped $2.77 billion in 2025 (up ~27% YoY), with online sports betting adding roughly $600 million. The lawmakers say the package is modeled on bipartisan legislation in Pennsylvania and Colorado.

Why it matters: Pennsylvania is one of only eight US states with legal real-money online casinos, so the proposed limits hit acquisition and retention channels directly — push, SMS, retargeting of self-excluded users, and youth-facing creative. For now these are introductions, not law, but they signal a wider “health-first” turn in US state-level iGaming marketing rules.

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