A legal bill proposed in New Hampshire to raise the legal sports betting age from 18 to 21 has been voted against and shelved for 2025.
During a House Ways and Means Committee executive meeting on January 27, 2025, the members voted 11 to seven against the bill, finding it “inexpedient to legislate.” Because a consensus could not be reached, the proposal would not progress to a committee review and subsequent full chamber vote, which may have led to eventual presidential action.
New Hampshire House Bill 83 (NH HB23) was proposed by committee representative Sally Fellows on December 23, 2024. The bill was introduced to the committee on January 8, 2025, before heading to the Executive Session on January 27, 2025.
Fellows and the Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health CEO Marlene Warner attended the debate, which also favored raising the state’s minimum sports betting age from 18 to 21.
New Hampshire is one of only five states that allow 18-year-olds to place sports bets online. The other US states are Wyoming, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Washington D.C. At the age of 18, you can engage in daily fantasy sports (but not sports betting) in most US states, excluding Nebraska and Alabama at 19 and Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, and Massachusetts at 21.
Representative Fred Doucette argued to dismiss the legislation but agreed that the issue could be reopened later. Fellow Republication Representative Cyril Aures said how passing this bill could infringe on the rights of young people, noting: “If they want to bet with their money, let them bet.”
The proposal to raise the legal sports betting age in New Hampshire will remain closed for this year. It could be reopened as early as January 2026, but this has yet to be confirmed.
In contrast, a bill (NH SB168) has been proposed in the New Hampshire Senate that could legalize online casino games in the state from January 1, 2026. The proposal outlines a plan for the New Hampshire Lottery to create a new division focusing on online wagering with a license for between three and six online gaming platforms linked to an existing facility in the state.
Should this bill pass, the legal age for online casino gaming would be 18, making the state among the first to allow young people to spend money at regulated online casinos. Its success could also reinforce the sports betting age at 18 instead of raising it to 21, thus having a three-year age gap between betting on sports and playing slot games.
Meanwhile, New York is engaged in its own battle to legalize online casino gambling. Lawmakers are actively engaged in talks to further iGaming in the Big Apple.
