Sports betting bill progresses in New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Senate has voted in favour of a bill that would legalise sports betting within the state’s borders.

The latest draft passed through the upper chamber on Wednesday and now heads back to the lower chamber for approval.

“I anticipate the House will concur with the Senate and it will pass,” said Rep. Timothy Lang, the author of the bill.

“If it does go to a committee of conference, I expect they will work it out, but I honestly believe they will just concur on the House floor and be done.”

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The Senate Ways and Means Committee added an amendment that would limit the number of mobile betting operators to five.

That change is not expected to pose any problems to the House, with Lang adding, “The cap of five clearly defines that it’s not a monopolistic venture.”

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One potential sticking point is an amendment that would allow in-play betting and other Tier 2 wagers at land-based sports betting operators – a proposal that was shot down by the House Ways and Means Committee.

Also problematic is a clause that would give the New Hampshire State Lottery Commission powers to change the initial caps on both retail betting shops and mobile gambling operators.

According to Lang, those Republican proposals are unlikely to get a green light from the Democrat-dominated legislature.

“It depends on politics,” he said.

“I don’t know if they’ll go party line vote or sway Democrats to be reasonable.”

New Hampshire is one of several north-eastern states to move on sports betting since the US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide ban last May.

Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have already legalised, while Maine and New York are not far behind.

It is expected the NH bill will go to a House vote in the first week of June.