The New Hampshire Senate has passed an amended version of a bill to legalize sports betting in the state, with the House of Representatives now set to look at the legislation with a view of passing it on to the Governor for signature.
HB480, which sets out plans to regulate sports betting in-person, online and via mobile, has been discussed and amended in the Senate on a number of occasions in recent weeks as lawmakers look to nail down regulatory measures.
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee granted the bill an ‘ought to pass with amendment’ recommendation based on several amendments, and the Senate has now approved these and also new changes tabled by Senator Bob Giuda.
Should the House also give the go ahead to HB480, it will then move forward to be signed into law by Governor Chris Sununu.
The latest set of amendments from Senator Giuda, address a number of measures in the bill, such as capping the number of mobile operators that would be permitted in the state to a maximum of five.
Other changes include reiterating that the New Hampshire Lottery Commission would be able to choose multiple online operators to offer sports betting, as well as clarification that the Commission would award licences to operator bids that “provide the state with the highest percentage of revenue” from sports wagering.
The Commission would also be able to, either independently or with a partner, set daily, weekly and monthly wager limits on mobile to help curb problem gambling.
Also in relation to mobile betting, the amended bill clearly states that mobile bets can only be placed and processed inside New Hampshire and not “intentionally routed outside of the state”.
However, despite the latest round of amendments, the bill does still not clarify how much licences will cost in New Hampshire, nor the level of tax operators will face in the state.
Should the bill clear the House and be signed into law by Governor Sununu, the first legal sports bets in the state could be placed on or around July 1, 2020.
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