Committee advances two sports-wagering bills; DraftKings warns one could discourage use of responsible-gaming tools

The Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee voted to release two sports-wagering bills: A4002, which requires sports-wagering licensees to adopt and publish rules governing wagering-account limitations and to notify patrons when accounts are limited, and A4003, which would prohibit operators from offering incentives to anyone using responsible-gaming mechanisms. Both bills were released by the committee; A4003 drew extended testimony.

Tim Murphy, senior director and adviser to the chief responsible gaming officer at DraftKings, testified against A4003 as drafted and urged the committee to distinguish between customers who have self-excluded or are in a cooling-off period and customers who proactively use limit-setting tools (deposit, wager, loss, time limits). “If a law said banks could not offer certain benefits to customers who set spending limits or alerts, some customers would still set those limits. But others might choose not to simply to avoid giving something up,” Murphy said, arguing that making limit-setters ineligible for promotions could create a disincentive for responsible behavior.

Murphy described DraftKings’ responsible-gaming program and provided companywide figures (company statements): more than 50 employees dedicated to responsible gaming; more than 44,000,000 responsible-gaming messages sent in 2025; the responsible-gaming center was visited more than 58,000,000 times (company-wide), and tool usage rose roughly 52% year over year. He also said DraftKings has invested in partnerships and funding (company cited more than $2,500,000 committed to state councils and partnerships) and works with outside partners (Cambridge Health Alliance on research and screening and Pinebridge for counseling links). He said operators do not market to self-excluded customers and that accounts are closed when a customer discloses addiction.

Committee members pressed Murphy for New Jersey–specific breakdowns of visits, prize counts and demographic details; Murphy said the large figures cited were nationwide and that he would provide state-specific numbers on request. Murphy also described a promotion where many customers who set limits during the promotion kept them in place 30 days later (he cited a 96% retention figure for people who set limits during one promotion), and he said that some promotional campaigns were used to increase awareness and adoption of responsible-gaming tools.

After testimony and discussion, the committee moved and released both bills. Assemblyman Meyer abstained on A4003; other members present voted to release the bill.

Next steps: Committee staff said they will pass comments and suggested clarifications back to the bill sponsor; members requested follow-up data from DraftKings specific to New Jersey for further legislative consideration.