Earlier this year, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said he hoped to be able to place a sports bet on Tom Brady before the end of the season.
He might be able to make that bet. The New Hampshire Lottery last week selected Draft Kings to operate its sports betting.
In August, the lottery posted a request for proposals from sports betting companies to determine who to put in charge of the state’s sportsbook. Last week it announced that DraftKings, which is partnering with Crown Gaming Inc. achieved a top score for mobile and retail sports betting, and so was selected to run both.
DraftKings had the highest score of 810 points out a possible 1,000 in the mobile category and 790 in the retail category. There was 11 proposals for the mobile category and six for retail.
Sununu told a radio talk show last week, “We put the request for proposals out, did the interviews, we’re going to be handing out the first contracts in the next few weeks here…We’re hoping to get something open as soon as January.”
DraftKings issued a statement saying it is “proud to be selected to offer mobile and retail sports betting in New Hampshire. We look forward to soon providing sports fans in the Granite State with our best-in-class mobile and online sportsbook product, and welcoming them into our dynamic retail sportsbooks.
“DraftKings will continue to collaborate closely with the New Hampshire Lottery Commission towards our mutual goal of bringing fun, safe and responsible sports betting to New Hampshire.”
Retails sports betting can be offered in up to 10 cities. The measure is on the ballot in Concord, Nashua, and Dover. Seabrook is expected to schedule its election in March.
In a related development, a study by the state’s Tax Policy Center revealed that the state takes a higher percentage of its budget from the taxation of “sin taxes” than states known more for gaming, such as Nevada and New Jersey.
A U.S. News & World Report study indicated that all sins, like tobacco, alcohol and gaming, collected $64 billion in the U.S. in 2017. But in New Hampshire, one of the smallest states, sin taxes raked in more than $1 billion, which is almost of a quarter of the state’s revenue. Close neighbor Pennsylvania collected 11 percent of its revenues from such sources.
New Hampshire doesn’t have a sales tax, but it was the first state to adopt a state lottery in 1964. However, products like smoking and drinking make the bulk of those revenues.
