New Hampshire’s sports betting report for June showed a rise in handle and revenue from June 2023 but FY 2024 was down from the previous fiscal year in the Granite State.
Mixed Messages
The good news is that June 2024 was financially better than June 2023 for the state’s sole mobile and retail sports betting operator, DraftKings. The New Hampshire Lottery reported a 25.9% year-over-year increase in total bets accepted equaling just shy of $49.4 million which generated $5.3 million, a 20.5% increase over last year. Of that revenue, $2.3 million went to the state’s tax coffers.
As seen repeatedly in states that have legalized mobile and retail sports betting, the former towers above the latter month after month. Therefore, it was no surprise that $44.6 million, or 90.2% of the wagers, were placed digitally while only $4.8 million was facilitated through retail sportsbooks.
But the news was not all positive, as FY 2024 ended in June and the year-over-year numbers were down compared to FY 2023. DraftKings reported a handle of $753 million and gross gaming revenue of $76.8 million with the state getting its cut at $33.7 million in FY 2024.
Yet, FY 2023 reported a combined handle of $883.7 million, nearly 15% higher than FY 2024, on gross gaming revenue of $81 million (6.2% higher) which saw $36.9 million in taxes sent to the state which was 8.7% more than this previous fiscal year.
Sports Betting Bolsters NH Education Fund
Earlier this year, the New Hampshire Lottery reported that its four-year partnership with DraftKings generated $100 million in taxes for the state’s Education Trust Fund during that span.
Charlie McIntyre, executive director of New Hampshire Lottery, in a statement, “We are extremely proud of the work we have done to establish New Hampshire as the premier destination for sports betting in the Northeast. We encourage our New Hampshire players to continue placing responsible bets and we are excited for many more years of winning big!”
Over the first four years of sports betting in New Hampshire, customers placed over $2.7 billion in bets. Mobile sports betting accounts for the vast majority of those wagers, but DraftKings does operate four retail locations at The Brook in Seabrook, Filotimo in Manchester and Dover, and the Gate City Casino in Nashua.
The New Hampshire Department of Education released a report that concluded the state spent over $20,000 per pupil in the 2022-2023 school year with total expenditures soaring above $3.8 billion.
“The statewide average for New Hampshire’s cost per pupil has increased by nearly 87 percent since 2000 when it cost less than $11,000 per student. During this same time frame, public school enrollment has dropped by about 20 percent statewide,” said Frank Edelblut, the state’s education commissioner.
The national average per pupil in 2021 was $14, 295 which is 41% less than New Hampshire’s average. The Granite State ranked ninth in the nation’s most expensive public education budgets, which is why the influx of sports betting contributions helps lessen the burden on the state’s taxpayers.
