Last month New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed a bill into law making the Granite State the sixth in the U.S. to legalize sports betting. Since then, more than 20 potential vendors have contacted New Hampshire Lottery Executive Director Charlie McIntyre to express their interest in the market.
“We’re in a unique situation of being an operator and regulator,” McIntyre told SportsHandle.com. “The law envisions us contracting out and sort of managing the day-to-day operations in terms of a 10,000-foot view.”
New Hampshire’s new law allows for 10 physical sportsbooks, but towns and cities have the right to vote on whether or not to have a sportsbook within their limits. That said, it’s likely that sports betting will first launch in the virtual world, as there’s less set-up involved and many vendors come in with an off-the-shelf product.
New Hampshire also finds itself uniquely positioned in terms of taxes. New Hampshire doesn’t have sales or income tax, so the state will impose only federal tax on wins big enough to be reported. McIntyre referred to it as “the New Hampshire advantage.”
The tax landscape has long made New Hampshire a destination for its neighbors—residents of Massachusetts, in particular, have been known to cross the border to shop, buy lottery tickets, and at one time, buy alcohol on days it was prohibited in Massachusetts, the website reported.
“We’re going to want partners that have the most appeal to the consumers,” McIntyre said. “We have an existing database of players, I think we tend to have a little more sophisticated consumer, so we’re going to be actively engaged in the business.
The first sports bets should be taken sometime in the first quarter of 2020,
McIntyre indicated.
When New Hampshire does launch, it will become the second New England state to do so. Rhode Island legalized in June 2018 and its physical sportsbooks went live around last Thanksgiving. Lawmakers pushed through a new law legalizing online and mobile sports betting at its two casinos, and the goal is for those to be live by the start of the NFL season.
While Massachusetts lawmakers have discussed sports betting since the beginning of the year, there has been no meaningful movement in the General Court. Among other New England states, Connecticut’s lawmakers adjourned without legalizing, but on Wednesday unveiled a draft bill that would legalize online/mobile sports betting, online poker, house-banked table games, slots, and an online lottery.
