NH Charitable Gaming Operators Happy About Historic Horse Racing

Charitable gaming operators are excited about the fact that Gov. Chris Sununu signed a historic horse racing bill into law on Tuesday.

Historic horse racing is a form of gaming played at an electronic terminal and does not involve live horses and a track.

CEO Andre Carrier of The Brook in Seabrook said they are both "excited and confident." His hope is that historic horse racing will help nonprofit organizations in the state earn more money during the weeks they are assigned to the casino.

"We're excited to be a vehicle for this legislation to do this good work," Carrier said.

Sununu was at The Brook in November of 2020 to celebrate the arrival of sports betting.

At that time, Sununu said The Brook's success since they opened a few years ago is a reflection on the economic success happening throughout New Hampshire.

The Brook is part of Eureka Casino Resort, which has the only 100 percent employee-owned casinos in the country. The Seabrook location was the first New Hampshire sports betting retail location opened in the state, officially letting the betting begin in August.

Sununu posted about signing the historic horse racing bill HB 626 into law on social media and his state-run website.

Featured in the photo are State Rep. Pat Abrami and State Rep. Fred Doucette. Sununu wrote that adding historic horse racing will generate an estimated $5.7 million in annual revenues for hundreds of nonprofit organizations in New Hampshire.

This will affect charitable gaming operators throughout the state.

Kevin McMahon, director of marketing at Boston Billiard Club & Casino in Nashua, said they are also looking forward to offering historic horse racing.

“None of the charitable gaming facilities have historic horse racing available just yet. But yes, we’ll certainly have it here at BBC&C as soon as possible. It will make for an exciting new attraction for our customers. We’re very much looking forward to it," McMahon said via email.

McMahon said that as a charitable gaming operation, they are close to reaching the $10,000,000 milestone in charitable gaming donations.

Contact Managing News Editor Kimberley Haas at Kimberley.Haas@townsquaremedia.com.