Restricts youth sports operators and youth sports facilities from prohibiting parents and guardians from taking in-person recordings or photographs of their children; allows youth sports operators and youth sports facilities to impose limited safety-based content restrictions; requires youth sports operators and youth sports facilities to give notice to parents and guardians regarding their rights to take in-person recordings or photographs.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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8666
IN SENATE
January 7, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to restricting
youth sports operators and youth sports facilities from prohibiting
parents and guardians from taking in-person recordings or photographs
of their children
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 in-person recording and photography
7 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 athletic events involving participants
11 under the age of eighteen;
12 2. "Youth sports operator" means any entity that organizes, manages,
13 or runs a youth sports event at a youth sports facility; and
14 3. "In-person recording or photography" means video or still photogra-
15 phy captured by a parent or guardian from a physical location inside the
16 youth sports facility using personal devices. "In-person recording or
17 photography" shall not include livestreaming, broadcasting, or profes-
18 sional-grade filming.
19 § 1051. Youth sports in-person recording and photography restrictions.
20 1. Youth sports facilities and youth sports operators shall not:
21 (a) prohibit or restrict a parent or guardian from taking in-person
22 video recordings or photographs of their own child;
23 (b) establish any requirement that a parent or guardian purchase video
24 services or photography, subscriptions, or other forms of access as a
25 condition of taking their own in-person recordings or photographs;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14142-01-5
S. 8666 2
1 (c) condition a child's participation, or a parent's admission or
2 continued presence at a youth sports event on waiving the ability to
3 take in-person recordings or photographs; or
4 (d) confiscate, disable, or otherwise restrict a parent's personal
5 device used for in-person recording or photography.
6 2. Youth sports facilities and youth sports operators may impose
7 reasonable, content-neutral, narrowly tailored restrictions on in-person
8 recording or photography. Such restrictions shall only be imposed for:
9 safety, preventing interference with play or obstruction of sightlines;
10 compliance with court orders or statutory privacy protections; or
11 restricting access to areas where spectators are not ordinarily allowed.
12 Such restrictions shall be written, posted, and applied uniformly.
13 3. Youth sports facilities and youth sports operators shall post a
14 brief notice informing parents and guardians of their right to take
15 in-person recordings and photographs, subject to the limited safety-
16 based restrictions of this article. Such notice shall also appear in
17 registration materials or codes of conduct.
18 4. Any contract, waiver, registration form, membership agreement,
19 league rule, or facility policy that restricts or waives the ability of
20 a parent or guardian to take in-person video recordings or photographs
21 of their own child shall be void and unenforceable as against public
22 policy.
23 5. Youth sports facilities and youth sports operators may offer
24 photography or video services for sale but shall be prohibited from
25 using such services to limit, restrict, or interfere with a parent or
26 guardian's right to take in-person recordings or photographs of their
27 own child.
28 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
29 have become a law.
