Restricts youth sports organizations and youth sports facilities from prohibiting attendees of youth sports events from recording personal media; provides exceptions related to safety or privacy, areas restricted to the general public, and uniform restrictions on all attendees unrelated to the purchase of a professional media package.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9627--A
IN ASSEMBLY
January 21, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Economic Development -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to restricting
youth sports organizations and youth sports facilities from prohibit-
ing attendees of youth sports events from recording personal media
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new article
2 41-A to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 41-A
4 YOUTH SPORTS
5 Section 1050. Definitions.
6 1051. Youth sports organization in-person recording and photog-
7 raphy restrictions.
8 § 1050. Definitions. As used in this article:
9 1. "Youth sports facility" means any indoor or outdoor venue in the
10 state of New York that hosts youth sports events.
11 2. "Youth sports event" means any organized athletic event, game or
12 competition in which the majority of participants are under the age of
13 eighteen.
14 3. "Youth sports organization" means any entity that organizes,
15 manages, governs, hosts or runs youth sports events.
16 4. (a) "Personal media" means video or still photography captured by
17 an attendee at a youth sports event from a physical location inside the
18 youth sports facility using a personal device.
19 (b) "Personal media" shall not include commercial livestreaming,
20 broadcasting, or professional-grade filming.
21 5. "Professional media package" means any commercially offered
22 subscription, pay-per-view access, photography service, or streaming
23 product.
24 § 1051. Youth sports organization in-person recording and photography
25 restrictions.
26 1. Youth sports organizations and youth sports facilities shall not:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14142-03-6
A. 9627--A 2
1 (a) prohibit, restrict, or penalize an attendee for creating personal
2 media at any youth sports event at which spectators are permitted,
3 except where permissible pursuant to subdivision three of this section;
4 (b) impose or enforce a rule involving a penalty because an attendee
5 recorded any portion of a youth sports event, including but not limited
6 to disqualification or loss of registration privileges;
7 (c) require the separate purchase of a professional media package as a
8 condition of usage of a youth sports facility, player registration, team
9 entry, team membership, enrollment, or spectator admission;
10 (d) bundle or embed a professional media package into registration
11 fees, tournament fees, membership fees, admission charges, or other
12 similar fees or payments without separately, clearly, and conspicuously
13 itemizing the cost of the package at the time of registration; or
14 (e) maintain, offer, or enter into, a waiver, contract, registration
15 form, agreement, rule, or policy that conflicts with the requirements of
16 this article.
17 2. Prior to registration or entry for a youth sports event, where a
18 professional media package is made available to attendees, youth sports
19 organizations shall conspicuously disclose in writing:
20 (a) whether the professional media package is optional;
21 (b) the full price of any offered media services in connection with
22 the professional media package; and
23 (c) the identity of the professional media package vendor and any
24 affiliated relationship between such vendor and the youth sports organ-
25 ization or youth sports facility.
26 3. A youth sports organization or youth sports facility may impose
27 restrictions on the capturing of personal media where:
28 (a) the youth sports organization has a documented safety or privacy
29 rationale, unrelated to commercial interest;
30 (b) there are specific zones, such as locker rooms or staging areas
31 where the general public is not permitted; or
32 (c) there is a uniform restriction on all attendees, unrelated to the
33 purchase of a professional media package.
34 4. Nothing in this article shall be construed as prohibiting a youth
35 sports organization or youth sports facility from entering into exclu-
36 sive arrangements with professional media vendors for the commercial
37 broadcast or streaming of youth sports events, provided that such
38 arrangements do not form the basis for any prohibition on the capturing
39 of personal media.
40 5. Nothing in this article shall alter existing state or federal laws
41 governing the commercial use of a minor's image or likeness. Youth
42 sports organizations may continue to require parental consent for the
43 publication of a minor athlete's photograph or video in organizational
44 media, websites, or promotional materials, establish reasonable social
45 media policies governing the posting of athletes' images by third
46 parties or enforce prohibitions on the recording of minors in private
47 areas.
48 6. This article shall not apply to:
49 (a) interscholastic athletic programs organized, operated, or governed
50 by a public or private elementary or secondary school, school district,
51 board of cooperative educational services or state athletic association
52 governing school-based sports; or
53 (b) athletic programs organized or sanctioned by the United States
54 Olympic and Paralympic Committee or any national governing body desig-
55 nated under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, 36 U.S.C. §
56 220501.
A. 9627--A 3
1 7. Any person who has been injured by reason of any violation of this
2 article may bring an action in their own name to enjoin such unlawful
3 act or practice, an action to recover such person's actual damages or
4 two hundred dollars, whichever is greater. The court may, at its
5 discretion, increase the award of damages to an amount not to exceed
6 three times the actual damages if the court finds the defendant willful-
7 ly or knowingly violated this section. The court may award reasonable
8 attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
10 have become a law.
