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Bovada New Hampshire: Blocked by DraftKings' Own Regulator

Bovada New Hampshire access has been blocked since early 2025, and the agency that ordered it is an unusual one: the New Hampshire Lottery Commission, which also happens to run the state's exclusive DraftKings sports betting contract and collect up to 51% of its revenue. That overlap — regulator and business partner in the same office — is the real story behind this state's cease-and-desist, more than any of the other nineteen letters Bovada has received since 2024.

Legal status in New Hampshire

Bovada itself blocks New Hampshire — the New Hampshire Lottery Commission sent operator Harp Media B.V. a cease-and-desist letter on December 12, 2024, co-signed by Chief Compliance Officer Cooley A. Arroyo, Esq. and Assistant Attorney General Mark W. Dell'Orfano, and Bovada added New Hampshire to its restricted list roughly a month later. New Hampshire legalized online sports betting under RSA 287-I in 2019, but the law routes the entire market through a single agent chosen by competitive bid and approved by the governor and executive council — DraftKings has held that exclusive contract since the market launched December 30, 2019, and the Lottery Commission extended it again in early 2026 through June 30, 2028. There is no legal online casino in New Hampshire for any operator, licensed or not; daily fantasy sports is separately legal under a 2017 law, HB 580, also overseen by the Lottery Commission.

State gambling authority: New Hampshire Lottery Commission

Bovada New Hampshire access closed in early 2025, and the letter behind it came from an agency with an unusual second job. The New Hampshire Lottery Commission doesn't just police who's allowed to take sports bets in the state — it runs the only legal sportsbook itself, through an exclusive contract with DraftKings that hands the state up to 51% of the mobile revenue. When that commission told Bovada to stop, it wasn't a neutral referee stepping in. It was the house telling a competitor to leave.

Is Bovada Legal in New Hampshire? What RSA 287-I Actually Licenses

New Hampshire legalized online sports betting under RSA 287-I in 2019, but the statute doesn't open a market the way most states' laws do. It authorizes the Lottery Commission to select a single agent — chosen through a competitive bid process and approved by the governor and executive council — to run mobile and retail sports wagering on the state's behalf. DraftKings won that bid before the market launched on December 30, 2019, and has been the only legal operator ever since. There was never a second license Bovada could have applied for. The market was built for one company from the start.

The letter, dated: New Hampshire Lottery Commission cease-and-desist to Harp Media B.V., issued December 12, 2024, co-signed by Chief Compliance Officer Cooley A. Arroyo, Esq. and Assistant Attorney General Mark W. Dell'Orfano. Quoting the letter directly: “Online sports betting is legal per RSA 287-I:3, but may only be conducted by the commission through agents selected by a competitive bid process and approved by the governor and executive council. As Bovada is not an authorized agent, its conducting of sports betting with New Hampshire residents is clearly in violation of state law.” Bovada added New Hampshire to its restricted list roughly a month later, becoming the 17th blocked jurisdiction at the time.

The Regulator Sending the Letter Also Runs the Winner

This is what separates New Hampshire from most of Bovada's other block-list states. In Massachusetts, the Attorney General's Office sent the letter. In Connecticut, it was the Department of Consumer Protection. Neither of those agencies collects a cut of a state-run sportsbook's revenue. New Hampshire's Lottery Commission does — under the DraftKings contract, the state takes up to 51% of mobile gross gaming revenue and 50% of retail revenue as long as DraftKings stays the sole operator. Add a second licensed book and that share drops to 21%. The commission that found Bovada in violation of state law has a direct financial reason to want exactly one operator taking New Hampshire action, and it isn't DraftKings' rival.

None of that makes the legal finding wrong — RSA 287-I really does limit the market to one competitively-bid agent, and Bovada really wasn't it. But it's worth naming plainly: New Hampshire's cease-and-desist protects a monopoly the state itself profits from, not just a licensing rule written for its own sake.

New Hampshire at a Glance

Bovada status: blocked since roughly January 2025
Regulator: New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Sports betting law: RSA 287-I, single-agent model
Authorized sportsbook: DraftKings only, contract runs through June 30, 2028
State revenue share: up to 51% mobile / 50% retail, exclusive; drops to 21% if a second operator is added
Legal online casino: none, for any operator
Daily fantasy sports: legal, regulated under HB 580 (2017)

Is Bovada Safe for New Hampshire Players Now?

New sign-ups aren't possible, which closes the question for anyone starting fresh. For players who held accounts before the block, safety was always the standard offshore trade-off: fast crypto withdrawals and a long operating history, set against zero Lottery Commission oversight, no New Hampshire fund-security rule, and no state agency that can compel a payout if one gets disputed. The commission's letter demanded Bovada refund affected New Hampshire users, but there's no independent public record confirming every balance was returned in full.

Is Bovada Legit? Track Record vs. What New Hampshire Actually Objected To

Worth separating clearly: the cease-and-desist letter is a licensing argument, not a fraud finding. It never disputes that Bovada pays players — it disputes that Bovada had any right to operate in New Hampshire at all under a law built for exactly one agent. Bovada's broader reputation, fifteen years of documented crypto payouts across the states where it still operates, is a separate fact that the letter doesn't touch either way. New Hampshire didn't decide Bovada was a scam. It decided Bovada wasn't DraftKings, and under RSA 287-I, only DraftKings gets to take a New Hampshire bet.

What's Actually Legal to Bet Online in New Hampshire

Sports betting: DraftKings only, mobile and retail, running since December 30, 2019 under an exclusive contract extended in early 2026 through June 30, 2028.
Daily fantasy sports: legal and Lottery Commission-regulated under a 2017 law, with multiple platforms operating.
Online casino games: not legal for any operator — no slots, blackjack, or table games for real money, licensed or offshore.
Bovada: blocked outright since around January 2025.

New Hampshire built a betting market with exactly one door, and the agency guarding it also collects rent from the tenant. That's an unusual structure worth understanding on its own terms — but it doesn't change the baseline that applies everywhere on this site: gambling is entertainment with a real cost, never a plan for income, and only with money you can afford to lose. 21+.

Bovada New Hampshire — Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bovada legal in New Hampshire?

No. The New Hampshire Lottery Commission said so directly in its December 12, 2024 letter: "Online sports betting is legal per RSA 287-I:3, but may only be conducted by the commission through agents selected by a competitive bid process and approved by the governor and executive council. As Bovada is not an authorized agent, its conducting of sports betting with New Hampshire residents is clearly in violation of state law." DraftKings is the only authorized agent. Bovada now refuses New Hampshire sign-ups outright.

Why did New Hampshire's Lottery Commission send the letter instead of the Attorney General?

Because in New Hampshire, the Lottery Commission is the gaming regulator — it doesn't just oversee sports betting, it directly runs the state's only authorized sportsbook contract through DraftKings and takes a cut of the revenue (up to 51% of mobile gross gaming revenue under the current deal). An Assistant Attorney General, Mark W. Dell'Orfano, co-signed the letter for legal weight, but the commission that policed Bovada is the same one that benefits financially from DraftKings holding the market alone. Most other states route these letters through a separate consumer-protection or attorney general's office with no direct financial stake in the outcome.

Is Bovada safe to use from New Hampshire now?

It isn't reachable for new accounts, so the question is largely moot going forward. For anyone who held a New Hampshire-linked account before the block, the underlying risk was the same one every offshore account carries: no Lottery Commission oversight, no state fund-security requirement, and no regulator to call if a withdrawal goes wrong. Bovada's broader payout reputation, built over fifteen years in states where it does operate, doesn't extend any enforceable protection to New Hampshire specifically.

Is Bovada legit, or is this just New Hampshire protecting DraftKings' monopoly?

Both things can be true at once. Bovada's legitimacy as a company — fifteen years of largely reliable crypto payouts — isn't what the letter disputes; it never mentions Bovada's payment history at all. The letter's argument is narrower and purely structural: RSA 287-I limits the entire New Hampshire market to one competitively-bid agent, and Bovada was never that agent. Whether a single-operator model is good policy is a separate debate from whether Bovada is trustworthy — New Hampshire's law would exclude any second sportsbook, licensed or not, not just this one.

What happened to New Hampshire accounts after Bovada blocked the state?

The Lottery Commission's letter ordered Bovada to immediately cease services to New Hampshire residents and refund all state users. There's no independent public confirmation that every account was made whole — Bovada's track record on state exits elsewhere has been mixed, with some players reporting clean payouts and others describing longer waits. Anyone who believes they still have a New Hampshire-linked balance should treat it as unresolved rather than assume it's simply waiting.

What's actually legal to bet online in New Hampshire?

One option, by design: DraftKings, as the Lottery Commission's sole approved mobile and retail sports betting agent since December 30, 2019, with the exclusive contract extended in early 2026 through June 30, 2028. Daily fantasy sports is separately legal and Lottery Commission-regulated under a 2017 law (HB 580), with DraftKings, FanDuel, and other platforms operating. Online casino games — slots, blackjack, poker for real money — have no legal path in New Hampshire for any operator; there's no pending legislation to change that as of 2026.

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