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DraftKings launches first retail sportsbook in New Hampshire

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DraftKings has launched New Hampshire’s first retail sportsbook, in partnership with the state lottery and Eureka Casino-owned venue The Brook. 

The DraftKings Sportsbook at The Brook is being launched with enhanced safety and sanitization protocols in place as a result of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, offering betting on all major professional and collegiate US sports. 

Patrons will be required to wear masks at all times in the venue, with physical distancing to be enforced and hand sanitizer stations installed in seating areas and on the gaming floor. These measures may be updated or amended as required, in consultation with regulators and public health officials. 

“With major sports resuming in recent weeks, I am extremely pleased The Brook is opening its new retail sportsbook,” New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said. “This retail sportsbook represents the next evolution for the New Hampshire Lottery and DraftKings, which have already established New Hampshire as the go-to destination for sports betting in the Northeast. 

“Along with placing bets online and with their mobile devices, sports fans now have an exciting new retail location where they can place bets on their favorite teams and experience this new way to win.”

The sportsbook features betting kiosks and video walls, and sits within The Brook’s Stadium sports entertainment space, which features three cinema screens and hundreds of individual TVs.

The venue is owned by Nevada-based Eureka Casino, which operates a two properties in Mesquite, and one in Las Vegas. It acquired The Brook in January 2019, rebranding the venue formerly known as Seabrook Park that saw a new race and sportsbook constructed at the venue. 

“We are proud to collaborate with the New Hampshire Lottery and DraftKings to open New Hampshire’s first retail sportsbook […],” The Brook chief executive Andre Carrier said. 

“We built The Stadium at The Brook to be the best place to watch sports anywhere in New England,” Carrier explained. “Unless you’re at the game, we feel that there’s no better place. Our new sportsbook will offer sports fans throughout the region a state-of-the-art, dynamic betting experience.”

The roll-out was facilitated through the partnership struck between DraftKings and the New Hampshire Lottery in November last year. That saw the operator agree to return 50% of sports betting revenue to the state, allowing it to launch up to ten retail locations across the state.

Mobile betting launched in the state on 30 December 2019, and in February the Lottery revealed that players had placed more than 1m bets, staking $28.6m. While it has not released regular figures since, it noted that since launch players have wagered more than $65m in total.

“DraftKings is a customer-first company that looks at the many ways fans engage with sports,” said DraftKings chief business officer Ezra Kucharz, chief business officer, DraftKings. “Our valued collaboration with The Brook and the New Hampshire Lottery will bring an immersive and entertaining in-person sports betting experience to fans in New Hampshire.”

The operator has committed to opening up to four retail sportsbooks in the state.

“The New Hampshire Lottery is excited to be working with The Brook and DraftKings to open New Hampshire’s first retail sportsbook, further establishing New Hampshire as a premier sports betting destination in the northeast,” New Hampshire Lottery executive director Charlie McIntyre added.

“With more than 42,000 registered NH users, mobile sports betting is already attracting a new generation of players to the New Hampshire Lottery. The addition of The Brook’s retail sportsbook will only further support our efforts to maximize revenue for education in New Hampshire.”