The New Hampshire sports betting scene scored another major win this week.
Maine’s House was unable to reach a two thirds majority vote to approve sports betting in the state, leaving the Granite State as one of only two New England states to have legal sports betting.
Rhode Island has allowed for legal sports betting at several casinos since the fall of 2018.
New Hampshire sports betting thriving
It was estimated by Maine State Police that the state could have made nearly $7 million in annual revenue if the House had gone the other way, according to WGME.
Instead, sports bettors in Maine who want to bet legally will have the option to drive across the border to bet on the DraftKings app.
DraftKings launched in New Hampshire in January and has a monopoly on the mobile sports betting scene in the state.
DK got the solo operator deal done with New Hampshire thanks to offering 51% of the revenue back to the state.
Both DraftKings and New Hampshire seem happy with the arrangement so far as they have already taken over $21 million in bets.
Massachusetts continues to stall
New Hampshire and DraftKings are also being boosted by Massachusetts bettors.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has been a supporter of legalized sports betting for years but the state has been slow to move any piece of legislation.
Massachusetts Rep. Michael Soter recently discussed the hold-up in Massachusetts on WEEI sports radio.
“One thing I will say about Massachusetts is that we want a good product,” Soter told WEEI’s Mike Mutnanky. “We want the best rate of return for our taxpayers. To duplicate [New Hampshire] and to duplicate something someone else is doing is not always a good thing.
“We’re making sure consumers have safeguards,” Soter continued. “There’s also layers and layers of technology that we need to understand. One of the other things that the [Massachusetts] lottery does not do right now is take online debit cards. So there’s that mechanism that the legislature has to look at as well.”
Connecticut could be a player
Massachusetts and Connecticut are likely the next New England states to seriously consider sports betting legalization.
Connecticut will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 25 to discuss possible legalization.
Maine, meanwhile, is back to square one. And while two members of the Vermont Senate recently filed a bill to expand gambling in the state, any legalization looks to be at least a year away.
