New Hampshire will introduce legal sports betting this week, and it might well be a market to look out for next year.
According to the new laws, players in New Hampshire will be able to wager on sporting events both digitally and offline. In addition to mobile betting, up to 10 land-based outfits will be permitted.
Indecision playing in New Hampshire’s hands
Unlike New Hampshire, neighbouring Massachusetts is still undecided on whether or not it should regulate online gambling. This could result in a similar scenario to New York, where players who want to bet simply cross over to New Jersey.
Boston in particular is a popular sporting destination. A variety of major teams call this city their home, including the NFL’s New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox in baseball. It’s also worth noting that DraftKings, one of the US’ biggest sports betting operators, is based here.
Concord, New Hampshire’s capital, is easily reachable from Massachusetts’ largest city. After all, it’s only 30 minutes away by car and 40 if you travel by train. Greater Boston alone is home to almost 4.8 million people – well over the 1.356 million in its entire neighbouring state. Therefore, operators could see this as a big opportunity if they can convince MA-based players to head over to the nearby regulated jurisdiction.
Massachusetts might have to wait for sports betting
Of course, the ideal scenario for brands looking at Massachusetts is for the state to regulate sports betting itself. But this might not happen in 2020, according to reports.
As mentioned in the Boston Herald, Senator Eric Lessler said: “We’re watching New Hampshire closely, just as we did with Rhode Island.
“The timeline and the committee’s work will be determined by our members and the substance of what we’re going over.”
