New Hampshire Sports Betting Under Lottery Commission

New Hampshire authorized sports wagering through HB 480, codified at RSA 287-I and effective July 12, 2019, one of the first states to move after the 2018 federal PASPA repeal. RSA 287-I:2 gives the New Hampshire Lottery Commission, not private operators, the authority to "operate a sports book for the purposes of accepting and paying sports wagers by authorized bettors within the state." The commission does not run wagering itself; it contracts the operation out. RSA 287-I:3 requires the commission to select agents through competitive bidding based on "financial stability, responsibility, good character, honesty, and integrity," awarding contracts to bidders offering "the highest percentage of revenue from the sports wagering activities" to the state, subject to background checks and gubernatorial/executive council approval.

Physical wagering is capped: RSA 287-I:5 lets agents run retail counters inside other licensed businesses but caps the state at "no more than 10 sports book retail locations" operating at once. A retail site cannot open until its host municipality votes yes. RSA 287-I:6 requires towns to put the question on a warrant article and cities to vote through council or a 25-voter petition, after a public hearing held 15 to 30 days beforehand; a majority "yes" allows retail wagering, and towns can later vote to rescind it. Mobile wagering is separately capped by RSA 287-I:7 at "no more than 5 mobile sports wagering agents" statewide, and bettors must be 18-plus and physically inside New Hampshire when they wager. Net proceeds, after administrative costs, prizes, and problem-gambling funding, flow into the RSA 198:39 education trust fund under RSA 287-I:9, the same account the traditional lottery funds for school aid.

RSA 287-I:10 bars the commission and its agents from accepting wagers made by "prohibited sports bettors", commission staff, agent employees, athletes, and sports-governing-body insiders, from accepting wagers on prohibited events, and from taking sports wagers "from persons who are physically outside of the state of New Hampshire at the time of the sports wager." A retail sportsbook opened without its town or city first passing the RSA 287-I:6 ballot vote, or wagering taken outside a commission contract, falls outside the authorized framework entirely.