Sports
New Hampshire Lottery expands sports wagering
New Hampshire is expanding sports wagering by adding a new retail location where consumers can go to place bets on games.
The New Hampshire Lottery announced on Monday that it is adding a Dover retail sportsbook operation in cooperation with DraftKings and Manchester-based Filotimo Casino & Restaurant, which will host the new establishment.
The move gives New Hampshire its third retail brick-and-mortar sports wagering location, adding to existing operations in Manchester and Seabrook. The state also allows wagers on sports games to be placed online.
The Lottery’s executive director Charlie McIntyre said the move will make the Granite State “the premier sports betting destination in the Northeast.”
“Sports betting has been a success in New Hampshire since launching nearly two years ago and we are pleased to continue working with DraftKings and Filotimo Casino & Restaurant to expand sports betting opportunities for our players,” he said in a statement.
Michael Kibort, DraftKing’s senior director of retail sportsbook, said the expansion will “provide customers with a premier skin-in-the-game viewership experience in the ‘live free or die state.'”
“As legalized sports betting continues to gain steam both in New Hampshire and across the country, DraftKings is proud to be a brand consumers know and trust, and we remain excited about the possibilities that lie ahead as we expand digital sports entertainment in New Hampshire,” Kibort said.
New Hampshire is one of several states that have legalized wagers on professional sports after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 struck down a federal law barring sports gambling in nearly all states except Nevada, paving the way for wagers on games.
The state launched sports betting in December 2019 after signing a contract with DraftKings to operate the wagering platforms. Since then, more than 16 million wagers have been placed, totaling $660 million, according to the Lottery.
A recent Lottery report suggests that New Hampshire is benefiting financially from its neighbor Massachusetts’ inaction on legalized sports betting.
Sports wagers totaled $520 million in the previous fiscal year, the Lottery said.
That includes $436 million in bets placed through DraftKings online sportsbook and more than $84.6 million at the sportsbooks in Seabrook and Manchester.
The Super Bowl clash between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs was the largest betting event in the previous year, generating $7.1 million in wagers, the Lottery said.
Overall, New Hampshire’s lottery system raked in cash during the pandemic, generating a record $518.5 million in total sales in the previous fiscal year, according to the report.
The increased lottery profits bodes well for the state’s public education system, which gets a portion of the revenue from sales. In the 2020 fiscal year, the state contributed nearly $100 education from lottery proceeds.
The New Hampshire Lottery has contributed more than $2.3 billion to education since it was created in 1964, the report noted.
This article was originally posted on New Hampshire Lottery expands sports wagering
