Is sports betting legal in New Hampshire?
Yes, online and in person, at 18. HB 480, signed July 12, 2019 and codified at RSA 287-I, lets the state Lottery run sports betting through contracted agents, and DraftKings has been its only agent since mobile betting opened on December 30, 2019. Retail betting followed on August 12, 2020. The DraftKings contract now runs to June 30, 2028.
Where you can bet
DraftKings runs the mobile app statewide and five retail sportsbooks: The Brook in Seabrook, Revo Casino & Social House in Manchester and in Dover, and Gate City Casino and The Nash, both in Nashua. RSA 287-I caps the state at 10 retail locations and 5 mobile agents. A city or town has to approve retail sportsbooks by ballot question before one can open there.
You can't bet on a college game involving a New Hampshire school, or on any college game played in the state. The statute carves out tournaments: bets on a tournament that includes a New Hampshire team are allowed only when the outcome depends on every game in the tournament. College player props on out-of-state schools are not banned by statute. High school events, and amateur events where most participants are under 18, are off the board everywhere.
New Hampshire doesn't tax sports betting. It takes a revenue share instead: 51% of mobile gross gaming revenue and 50% of retail. The Lottery reported more than $172 million in state revenue from the DraftKings partnership as of March 2026.
How New Hampshire legalized sports betting
The lottery state, 1963 to 2018
State Rep. Larry Pickett of Keene filed a sweepstakes bill five times between 1953 and 1963 before it passed, and Gov. John King signed it on April 30, 1963. Towns voted on it by special ballot (198 of 211 said yes), and Sweepstakes tickets went on sale March 12, 1964, the first legal state lottery in the modern United States. The Sweepstakes was run off a horse race at Rockingham Park in Salem. The commission created that year, now at RSA 284:21-a, is the agency that runs sports betting today.
Daily fantasy came first among sports products. A 2017 law (chapter 247) added RSA 287-H, which requires fantasy operators to register with the commission and verify players are 18 or older, and it exempted fantasy contests from the criminal gambling statute, RSA 647:2.
HB 480 and the DraftKings deal, 2019
After the Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting ban in Murphy v. NCAA on May 14, 2018, the House Ways and Means Committee took up HB 480 in the 2019 session. Rep. Tim Lang of Belknap County was its lead sponsor. Gov. Chris Sununu signed it on July 12, 2019 as chapter 215 of the 2019 laws, effective that day. The law runs sports betting through the Lottery. The commission picks agents by competitive bid, the Governor and Executive Council approve each contract, and the state's return must be a percentage of revenue. The same act added a sports wagering exemption to RSA 647:2 and created a Council for Responsible Gambling (RSA 338-B).
The Lottery received 13 proposals. On November 25, 2019, the Executive Council voted 3-1 to approve a six-year DraftKings contract with two optional two-year extensions, 51% of mobile and 50% of retail gross revenue to the state, and a commitment of 4 to 10 retail sportsbooks. The contract term began that day. Before the vote, voters in Berlin, Claremont, Laconia, Manchester and Somersworth approved local sportsbook questions.
Launch and later changes, 2019 to 2026
Sununu placed the state's ceremonial first bet on December 30, 2019, a Patriots Super Bowl ticket, at a Manchester pub. The DraftKings Sportsbook at The Brook, on the site of the old Seabrook Greyhound Park, opened August 12, 2020 as the first retail location. The legislature amended the retail sections of RSA 287-I in 2021.
A 2025 law (chapter 141) renamed the agency the New Hampshire Lottery and Gaming Commission, effective July 1, 2025, and the statute keeps "lottery commission" as a valid synonym. On February 11, 2026, DraftKings announced a two-year extension, which moved the contract end date to June 30, 2028. The commission then issued RFI LOT 2026-02 on March 27, 2026, asking operators how a multi-operator mobile or retail market would work, for a report to the executive branch and legislators. As of September 25, 2026, the state still has one operator.
HB 1194, which Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed in July 2026 (chapter 322, effective July 15, 2026), rewrote the 2019 gambling exemption. The old RSA 647:2, V(f) exempted "sports wagering as defined by RSA 287-I:1, XV," a definition that includes exchange wagering. The new text exempts only "the conduct of a sports book, or participation in sports wagering, authorized by RSA 287-I." The amendment doesn't mention prediction markets.
Sports betting court cases in New Hampshire
New Hampshire Lottery Commission v. Barr (Wire Act)
A 2018 opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel read the Wire Act of 1961 to cover nearly all interstate wagering over wires, reversing its 2011 view that the Act reached only sports betting, and a January 2019 memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told prosecutors to follow it. The reading threatened New Hampshire's online lottery. The Lottery Commission sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire on February 15, 2019 (No. 1:19-cv-00163-PB), and its iLottery vendors NeoPollard Interactive LLC and Pollard Banknote Limited filed a companion suit that was consolidated with it.
Judge Paul Barbadoro ruled for the plaintiffs on June 3, 2019, holding that the Wire Act applies only to bets or wagers on sporting events or contests. He granted declaratory relief and set the opinion aside under the Administrative Procedure Act. The government appealed as New Hampshire Lottery Commission v. Rosen, No. 19-1835. On January 20, 2021, the First Circuit (Judges Lynch and Kayatta) held the claims justiciable and agreed that the Wire Act's prohibitions reach only interstate wire communications about sporting events or contests. It affirmed the declaratory judgment and vacated only the APA relief as unnecessary. The Justice Department did not seek Supreme Court review before the June 2021 deadline, so the ruling is final and binds federal courts in the First Circuit (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico). The Wire Act still bars interstate sports wagers, and New Hampshire's law requires every mobile wager to be placed and received inside the state.
Challenges to the sports betting law
We found no court challenge to HB 480, to RSA 287-I or to the DraftKings contract. New Hampshire has no federally or state-recognized tribes, so there's no tribal compact to litigate.
Prediction markets in the First Circuit
New Hampshire hasn't sued, charged or sent a cease-and-desist letter to Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Robinhood or any other prediction market, in the records we checked. The First Circuit hasn't ruled on whether the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state gambling law. The appeal pending there is Robinhood Derivatives, LLC v. Campbell, No. 26-1257, docketed March 23, 2026, which challenges the District of Massachusetts' dismissal of Robinhood's suit as unripe (No. 1:25-cv-12578-RGS). The Massachusetts state case, Commonwealth v. KalshiEX LLC, is before the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC-13906) after Suffolk Superior Court Judge Christopher Barry-Smith granted a preliminary injunction against Kalshi's sports contracts on January 20, 2026. The SJC heard argument on May 4, 2026, and we found no decision as of September 25, 2026. New Hampshire did not sign the April 2026 amicus brief from Nevada, Ohio, 35 other states and D.C. backing Massachusetts in that case.
Outside the First Circuit, federal appeals courts have split. The Third Circuit ruled in April 2026 that New Jersey can't regulate Kalshi's sports contracts. The Ninth Circuit ruled the other way for Nevada on August 28, 2026, holding that sports event contracts aren't swaps. Neither decision binds New Hampshire.
Prediction markets and daily fantasy
Kalshi and Polymarket offer sports contracts to New Hampshire users with no agreement with the state, so the state gets no share of their fees. Novig (Ludlow Exchange, LLC, a CFTC-designated contract market since June 16, 2026) also accepts traders physically in the state who are 21 or older with ID, three years above the betting age, and builds no vig into its prices. Lottery director Charlie McIntyre told NHPR in March 2026 that "we anticipate the expansion of prediction markets could erode New Hampshire revenues from sports betting," and officials said they were watching the Massachusetts and Arizona cases. In April 2026 state Sen. Tim Lang (R-Sanbornton) said he would file legislation to let New Hampshire join suits against prediction markets; we found no such bill enacted. On the Executive Council, Councilor John Stephen has spoken in favor of the competition. In September 2026, at the Granite State Summit on Problem Gambling at Southern New Hampshire University, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called on Attorney General John Formella to issue cease-and-desist orders. The Attorney General's office hadn't announced any action as of September 25, 2026.
Daily fantasy is legal under RSA 287-H. Operators register with the Lottery and Gaming Commission, and players must be 18 or older.
Help with a gambling problem
NH Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 helpline: 603-724-1605.
Sources
Governor Ayotte signs 20 bills into law, including HB 1194 (July 15, 2026)
WCAX: New Hampshire signs sports betting contract with DraftKings (Nov. 2019)
Sports Handle: Executive Council approves DraftKings contract 3-1
NBC Boston: First retail sportsbook opens at The Brook (Aug. 12, 2020)
NHLGC RFI LOT 2026-02 on multi-operator sports betting (Mar. 27, 2026)
First Circuit opinion, New Hampshire Lottery Commission v. Rosen, No. 19-1835 (Jan. 20, 2021)
NHPR: N.H. Lottery wins court decision over online ticket sales (June 3, 2019)
Legal Sports Report: NH Lottery takes DOJ to court over Wire Act opinion
Pokerfuse: DOJ declines Supreme Court appeal of Wire Act case
Robinhood Markets Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (legal proceedings)
Covers: Judge allows Massachusetts preliminary injunction against Kalshi (Jan. 20, 2026)
Amicus brief of Nevada, Ohio, 35 other states and D.C., Commonwealth v. KalshiEX LLC, SJC-13906
Insurance Journal: Kalshi grilled by Massachusetts high court (May 2026)
NHPR: Could prediction markets deflate March Madness revenue for NH? (Mar. 19, 2026)
NHPR: New Hampshire and other states vs. prediction markets (Apr. 2, 2026)
CDC Gaming: Christie calls on state attorneys general to target prediction markets (Sept. 2026)
NHPR: New Hampshire has no state or federally recognized tribes (Mar. 2025)