Retail Sports Betting In NH Split Among Towns And Cities

• Cities that have approved retail sportsbooks within their borders include Berlin, Claremont, Laconia, Somersworth, and Manchester.
• Retail sports betting in NH was voted down in Concord, Nashua Dover, and Rochester.
• Online sports wagering apps in New Hampshire will be available statewide no matter what voters decided on Tuesday.

CONCORD, N.H. – Voters in the Granite State gave mixed signals as to how they feel about retail sports betting parlors in NH cities and towns. While some municipalities approved the measure on their ballot, some of the most populated cities in the state voted the measure down.

According to New Hampshire Public Radio, the cities that voted to allow retail sports betting in New Hampshire on Tuesday include Claremont, Laconia, Berlin, Somersworth, and Manchester. Franklin also approved retail sportsbooks in a local vote last month.

What comes as a surprise is that three of the state’s top five most populated cities chose not to allow the activity within their local establishments. Those cities are Nashua, Dover, and Concord. Rochester also disapproved the measure.

In July, NH HB 480 was signed into law. The bill allows up to 10 retail locations that are currently partners of the state lottery to offer sports wagering. The chosen retail lottery operators are to be based on two main forms of criteria.

The first obstacle requires that NH cities and towns conduct a local vote. The New Hampshire Lottery will then select locations from voter-approved cities that would generate the state the most in tax revenue.

There is a chance that multiple lottery providers within the same city could be approved to offer legal sports betting. Given that Manchester is the most populated city in New Hampshire that could very well be a possibility.

However, despite voters’ input on Tuesday, mobile sports wagering apps in New Hampshire will be available statewide when they are launched. Those platforms are expected to start accepting wagers after licenses are granted to online sports betting providers and retail locations open up.

According to New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, final contracts with those companies should be awarded later this month, and sports betting could begin as soon as January.

News tags: Berlin | Chris Sununu | Claremont | Concord | Dover | Franklin | Laconia | Manchester | Nashua | New Hampshire | New Hampshire Lottery | Rochester | Somersworth