Pennsylvania Tightens Oversight of Gambling Promotions Amid Deceptive Wagering Concerns
19 October 2026
Pennsylvania regulators are clamping down on potentially misleading promotional language and disclosures for online gambling. While the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has long required gaming operators to submit promotions for review before offering them, it is now aiming to stop deceptive wagering terms in their tracks.
Industry Guidance 2025-05, issued on December 24, 2025, requires operators to notify the board of promotion terms and conditions at least five days before offering them. The guidance explicitly states that board staff do not approve promotions, only checking them to ensure they are not false or deceptive. Promotion terms must be posted clearly and in plain language on the operator's website.
A March 2026 report on PlayPennsylvania.com indicated that the PGCB had banned the phrase "free bet" from much of the marketing of Pennsylvania sportsbooks, asking operators to remove terms that imply promotional offers are cost-free. More recently, a July 2026 proposal publicized in the Pennsylvania Bulletin outlined an array of new advertising standards, including barring claims that gambling is risk-free, promises success, or a way to pay bills.
The board is also recommending time-tracking tools for online gaming platforms, requiring them to show local time, session duration in real time, and pop-up summaries of hours logged and dollar amounts wagered every hour. This proposal was under final review as of this writing, after a public comment period that closed August 10, 2026.
These developments follow a Philadelphia County Court lawsuit filed by the Public Health Advocacy Institute in 2026 challenging a $2,500 deposit-match promotion offered by Caesars Online Casino and Harrah’s Philadelphia. According to a March 2026 report, the alleged promotion required gamblers to place total wagers of $375,000 in seven days to access their matched funds or withdraw their winnings. The lawsuit claimed that this condition was not clearly disclosed.
The PGCB's intervention on promotions comes in a period of rapid growth for online gambling in Pennsylvania. Figures published by the regulator show that online gaming revenue exceeded $1 billion in Pennsylvania in the second quarter of 2026, up 60% from the second quarter of 2022. Sports wagering revenue also reached a record $656 million in the second quarter of 2026, up 49% year-to-year.
Industry experts said these changes were a sign regulators remain focused on protecting players and consumer trust while the sector expands. "Increasingly, operators have to be transparent in what's being offered and make the wagering requirements clear, and gaming commissions are scrutinizing that," said Charles Tabb, a partner with Duane Morris LLP who focuses on online gaming law. "This is going to prompt a review of marketing materials and may lead to a change in how some promotions are structured."