New Hampshire worked hard to get its sports betting industry up and running before the end of 2019 and succeeded in getting it done. New Hampshire become the second New England state after Rhode Island to offer legalized sports betting services after New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu placed the first official bet before the end of the year.
Gov. Sununu placed a $82 bet on the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl. The best was made from his mobile phone from a sports bar in the state. Gaming analysts expect the sports betting market to generate $7.5 million in 2021 and state that the market will grow and generate close to $13.5 million by 2023.
DraftKings Takes Over NH
DraftKings will be taking over the mobile and online sports betting market in New Hampshire. The company signed a 6 year agreement with the state lottery to operate sports books in the state. The money generated by the state from legalized sports betting will be used to fund educational programs in the state.
The current contract between DraftKings and the State Lottery will see 50 percent in sports betting revenue go towards the state coffers. The sports betting law also allows for retail betting outlets to operate. Only bettors who are over 18 years, will be allowed to place bets.
DraftKings is expecting to do big business in the state as the company already operates 10 retail sportsbooks in New Hampshire. The company has confirmed that it will now open a new office in the state and is excited to provide an American sportsbook offering to the people of New Hampshire.
Rhode Island Numbers Not Impressive
When Rhode Island legalized sports betting, gaming analysts expected the state to generate $11.5 million in the fiscal that concluded on June 30. However, there expectations were not on target as the state could only generate $3.5 million in revenue. The huge difference in projected revenue and earned revenue was put down to the fact that the state delayed its sports betting launch and also because the success of the New England Patriots was way too predictable.
Rhode Island has set its new target as $22.7 million because mobile sports betting has now been added to the market but the state is concerned whether it will come close to this target, especially now that New Hampshire has also launched sports betting services.
Strong Response In New Hampshire
New Hampshire will be happy with the initial response to live sports betting in the state. Stats from the state lottery show that over 6,000 bettors in the state signed up for a sports betting account during the first 24 hours after sports betting went live.
These 6,000 players are reported to have already spent $250,000 in wagers which the lottery described as very promising. The state lottery confirmed that a number of players from neighbouring Massachusetts had crossed over to New Hampshire to register and place their bets.
The state lottery expects these numbers to keep growing as we enter into 2020 as the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball League (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL) will soon be entering into their playoffs which is a period which tends to generate a lot of sports betting action.
Now that bettors in New Hampshire have access to retail sports betting, mobile and online sports betting, they can quickly place their bets from the comfort of their home or while they are on the move.
It will take a couple of weeks before the state lottery and DraftKings can get proper feedback on their sports betting offers and the challenges that bettors are facing. Bettors must be physically located within New Hampshire to place their bets as geo-technology is used to prevent out-of-state bettors from accessing online and mobile sports betting in New Hampshire.