New Hampshire was one of several states to start taking bets in 2019. Governor Chris Sununu signed the legislation into law in July and the state was taking legal sports wagers by December.
The way in which New Hampshire is set up is that the governing body for betting is the New Hampshire State Lottery, but the state has an exclusive partnership with DraftKings to operate its retail sportsbooks and the mobile capabilities of the state.
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There are 10 land-based sportsbooks approved for betting and there are mobile and online betting apps that can be accessed from anywhere in the state. Each town with a licensed land-based sportsbook was able to vote as to whether or not betting was welcomed in that location. Not all cities said yes, including the capital of Concord, but several towns did agree, including Manchester.
As mentioned, DraftKings is the sole operator and has partnered with Intralot because of the state lottery connection.
We don’t have much to rank for the state of New Hampshire, but our review of DraftKings follows as a household name that everybody in the world of betting is familiar with.
New Hampshire is a small state that presents great opportunity when it comes to betting on sports. This is a relative newcomer to the sports betting market, but this is also a state that stands apart from the rest with a legal sports betting age of just 18.
New Hampshire became the 18th jurisdiction to authorize legal sports betting and seems committed to making it easy for everybody to access. Governor Chris Sununu was a big proponent of the proposal and used his authority to make sure that it would make its way through the state’s General Court. States are starting to realize that any financial windfall from legalized betting is worth pursuing that is why New Hampshire could actually be a thriving sports betting market in the near future.
The bill in New Hampshire wound up being extremely friendly for the state as well as the operators. There are provisions in place for online-only sportsbooks that do not need to have licensing through a brick-and-mortar sportsbook, as is the case in most every other state.
Interestingly, the way that the legislation was written is that cities could opt out of sports betting. The capital in Concord and other cities like Dover and Nashua voted down sports betting, while Manchester and Franklin were two of the most notable to move forward.
How Do I Bet on Sports in New Hampshire?
Locales that have approved sports betting are moving forward with everything. DraftKings looks to be the chief operator in New Hampshire for both the retail sportsbooks and the online components. The New Hampshire Lottery will also have its own provider from Intralot.
Retail sportsbooks are under construction in most places, but DraftKings went live in New Hampshire in December 2019. DraftKings is required by law to open and operate at least four retail sports betting locations and those should keep popping up throughout 2020.
DraftKings was up for the bid along with other operators, but offered a 51/49 split with the state and that was good enough to give DraftKings something of a monopoly in the Granite State. The Lottery still does its own thing, otherwise it would be a complete monopoly. Nevertheless, DraftKings is moving forward with its online operations and will have retail locations over the course of the year.
New Hampshire does not have full-fledged casinos, so it will be interesting to see where the retail locations are placed. There are some charity-based gaming areas that could be on the list, but it is also possible that some sort of new construction may be required.
It is also interesting to note that New Hampshire remains open to horse betting via sites like TVG, BetAmerica, and Twinspires. BetAmerica does take sports bets in other jurisdictions, but will not be taking sports wagers in New Hampshire.
With DraftKings now in New Hampshire, that means that the DFS operator turned betting giant operates in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Iowa, and Indiana to go along with NH.
It is unclear whether or not the cities that voted down sports betting will have an opportunity to change their minds in 2020 or at some point down the line, but the state is moving forward with the locations that did approve it and DraftKings is moving forward with the retail side that will supplement the online and mobile side, which is already doing quite well in the state.
Like all other states that have sports betting, you must be physically located within the borders of the state to use the app. In this case, that DraftKings app in New Hampshire or the Intralot app for the betting with the state lottery. In-person registration is not required as it is in some places and remember that the legal betting age in New Hampshire is just 18.
With Massachusetts moving forward in 2020 and Rhode Island already in the game, we’ll see if New Hampshire and the other states end up pushing Maine or Vermont to adopt some sort of sports betting.