13 Bidders Submit An RFP To Conduct Sports Betting In NH

• The NH Lottery is in charge of overseeing and regulating the NH sports betting industry.
• New Hampshire sports betting laws allow up to 10 retail sportsbooks and five online sportsbooks statewide.
• Sports betting operators in NH will have to be currently operating in three other jurisdictions.

CONCORD, N.H. – The New Hampshire Lottery will have plenty of options when it comes to selecting sports betting operators in the state.

On Monday, the Lottery announced that from the time they opened up the Request for Proposal (RFP) window on August 7 to the time it closed on September 20, they received 13 proposals from potential sports betting companies that want to do business in the Granite State.

“We are pleased and encouraged at both the robust number of responses and the overall quality of proposals,” said Charlie Mclntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery.

The RFP states that these companies can enter the New Hampshire sports betting market in three different ways.

They can either operate a statewide online/mobile sports betting application, open a brick-and-mortar sportsbook at a qualifying establishment, or partner with a retailer from the Lottery’s network. They can even offer sports betting through all three.

NH HB 480, which was signed into law by Governor Chris Sununu in July, allows up to 10 retail sportsbooks to operate in the state and up to five mobile sports betting apps in New Hampshire.

The sports gambling RFP also stated that these companies have to be operating in at least three different jurisdictions. This requirement was put in place to safeguard potential NH sports bettors, but it also narrows down the field for which companies may ultimately be rewarded with a contract.

Sports wagering companies like FanDuel, William Hill, and DraftKings, are just a few of the potential sportsbook providers that meet all of the criteria that the RFP asked for. However, the NH Lottery did not immediately announce which companies they received requests from.

“As the critical next step in the process, we look forward to reviewing each response carefully and thoroughly to ensure we can ultimately make the right decisions in launching a sports betting system that engages and protects players, while also driving crucial revenue for education in the Granite State,” said Mclntyre.

The NH Lottery is estimating that they will approve final contracts near the end of November. Those legal sports betting providers are then assumed to launch their sportsbooks sometime in early 2020.

It’s important to keep in mind that brick-and-mortar sportsbooks in New Hampshire will have to be approved by local voters before opening. Cities such as Dover and Nashua will vote on this issue in November, while smaller municipalities such as Seabrook will vote on sports betting in March of 2020.

News tags: Charlie Mclntyre | Dover | Nashua | New Hampshire | New Hampshire Lottery | Seabrook