New Hampshire didn’t open a sportsbook market in 2019. It ran an auction, and DraftKings won it. Every legal sports bet placed in the state since — mobile or in person — has gone through that one contract, which makes “DraftKings New Hampshire” a different kind of question than the same search in a state with five competing apps.

Is DraftKings Legal in New Hampshire? Yes — It’s the Only Option

RSA 287-I, signed in July 2019, didn’t create a licensing category for sportsbooks the way most states did. It authorized the New Hampshire Lottery Commission to pick a single operator through a competitive bid. DraftKings won that fall by offering the state 51% of mobile gross gaming revenue and 50% of retail — numbers no other bidder matched — and launched mobile betting December 30, 2019. There has never been a second operator. There isn’t a FanDuel or a BetMGM to compare prices against here; DraftKings is the market by law.

The trade-off behind the monopoly: DraftKings gives up a bigger cut of revenue than it does anywhere else it operates — 51% mobile, 50% retail — in exchange for New Hampshire locking out every competitor. If the state ever licensed one or two more operators, DraftKings’ own rate would fall to 21%. It hasn’t happened, and the current exclusive deal runs through June 30, 2028, with an option through 2030.

Is DraftKings Legit in New Hampshire?

A one-operator market can look like a red flag from the outside, but the mechanics here run the other way. New Hampshire structured the 2019 bid specifically to extract the highest possible share for public education funding, and DraftKings’ win came from outbidding rivals on price, not from skipping a vetting process. The arrangement has since sent the state more than $172 million for education, and the Lottery has renewed it rather than opened the market — the kind of thing a regulator with leverage to switch operators doesn’t do for a partner it distrusts.

How Safe Is DraftKings for New Hampshire Players?

Standard protections apply: Lottery Commission oversight, mandatory geolocation, identity verification at signup. Where New Hampshire actually differs from most DraftKings states is age, not safeguards — the legal minimum here is 18, not 21. That’s not an oversight; lawmakers debated it directly. HB 83 would have raised the floor to 21, a legislative fiscal note put the revenue cost at $320,000 in FY2026 and $640,000 every year afterward, and the House rejected the bill 215-140 on February 6, 2025. Eighteen stayed the law.

What DraftKings Doesn’t Offer Here

No online casino. New Hampshire has never legalized iGaming — a 2025 bill that would have required online casino operators to partner with an in-state facility stalled and didn’t pass — so slots, blackjack, and roulette aren’t available through DraftKings or anyone else in the state. Sports betting, mobile and at four retail counters (The Brook in Seabrook, Revo Casino Manchester, Revo Casino Dover, and Gate City Casino in Nashua), is the entire product line.

Bottom line: DraftKings is fully legal and legitimately the only sportsbook New Hampshire allows, running under a contract that taxes it harder than almost anywhere else in exchange for locking out competition. Betting is legal here starting at 18, so treat any deposit as entertainment spending regardless of age, and lean harder on self-set limits since the extra guardrail some states add at 21 isn’t part of New Hampshire’s law. If it stops feeling like entertainment, 1-800-GAMBLER is free and confidential.