New Hampshire has recently taken the leap forward and decided to finally legalize sports betting after Governor Chris Sununu signed into law. The state is now the second state in the New England region to legalize sports wagering after Rhode Island whose first two casinos went live late last year. Sports betting in the United States continues to grow at a rather significant pace since the country’s Supreme Court abolished PASPA in May 2018 thus paving the way for states to legalize sports betting as they so fit.
The bill that paved the way for the legalization of sports betting in New Hampshire included clauses that defined both retail and sports betting services. It was introduced in the state House earlier this year by Rep. Timothy Lang. Unsurprisingly, it was able to gain the necessary legislative support in both houses of the state’s General Court. Last Friday, it finally overcame the final hurdle when it was signed into law by the state’s governor.
Governor Sununu is quite excited about the development and has even stated that he is keen on placing the very first legal bet in the state when the gaming operators finally decide to launch their sports betting operations. The law allows gamblers in the state to place bets on professional sports as well as a decent number of Division I college sports – this is on condition that the games being bet on do not involve schools that are in the state.
As mentioned earlier, in addition to being able to place wagers at a total of 10 retail betting locations, the bettors will also be able to gamble online as well as on their mobile devices. It will, however, take a bit of time before the interested operators are able to go live with the sports betting offerings in the state.
Promising Revenue Projections
Even though it is yet to go live, there are some very high expectations for New Hampshire’s gaming industry which will be overseen but by the state’s Lottery Commission. It is estimated that the industry will channel $7.5 million towards New Hampshire’s education trusts in the fiscal year 2021 and a whopping $13.55 million in the fiscal year 2023.
According to the sponsors of the bill, the law will finally bring sports betting which has been an illicit and underground activity to the light. This not only means that there will be better consumer protection but also that people who have been secretly battling problem gambling will finally be able to access some support. This is definitely a new dawn for the people of New Hampshire and, hopefully, the industry will deliver on everything that it is anticipated to.
