Sanbornton state rep touts sports betting in Conway

CONWAY — The state representative who crafted New Hampshire’s sports betting law told the Conway selectboard last week that passing sports betting in Conway would create jobs and raise money for education.

The selectboard held a public hearing at their regular meeting on warrant articles 29 and 30 that will ask voters to allow keno and sports betting in town.

Residents will vote on these articles and about three dozen others on April 12.

Article 29 asks voters to allow keno. The selectboard voted 3-2 not to support it, with Mary Carey Seavey and Carl Thibodeau in the minority, and John Colbath, Steve Porter and Chair David Weathers in the majority. Article 30 asks about sports betting. It’s recommended 4-1, with Porter in the minority.

The public hearings were the first items of business on the agenda and no one from the public attended except a Sun reporter.

State Rep. Timothy Lang (R-Sanborton) arrived to the meeting after the hearing was closed, but the selectboard reopened it to allow him to speak.

Sanborton is a about an hour and 15 minutes southwest of Conway and is adjacent to Laconia.

Lang introduced himself as the prime sponsor of the sports betting bill, which became the sports betting law RSA-287I. Sports betting went live on Dec. 30, 2019.

“Last year, it resulted in $18 million going to education all by itself,” said Lang, adding that his bill only allows for 10 sports betting locations in the state, and three already exist.

“So, I know one of the questions was how many places would be allowed into our community? The answer is probably one license for the town of Conway.”

The three locations are Dover, Manchester and Seabrook.

The sports betting article was sparked by Bedford business leader Dick Anagnost’s plan to open a casino/sportsbook/Greek restaurant in Conway called Filotimo at the Shurfine Plaza at 234 White Mountain Hwy. There are already Filotimo locations in Manchester and Dover.

Lang said that bringing sports betting to town would create jobs. He said in Manchester alone, about 28 jobs were created. He added that the $18 million raised for education didn’t have to come from taxation.

“So when you’re talking to your state representative, saying, ‘How do we get property tax relief, how do we get more education dollars?’ the answer is you need towns to adopt things like this to allow something that would create an increase revenue without having to do a direct tax on every single citizen,” said Lang.

He noted that Conway is a tourist destination. “I call this a volunteer tax — you don’t pay it unless you go and decide to visit.”

More from this section

Movies and TV shows casting in Portsmouth

The most popular grocery items for Christmas in New Hampshire, according to Instacart

Lang also explained the Lottery Commission decides who gets a license to operate sports betting and where it would go.

Weathers asked what kinds of jobs sports betting would create, and Lang replied all sorts and listed betting cage workers, servers and legal compliance staff as examples.

Lang also spoke favorably of keno. He said keno generates a 20% “lift” in business as bar/restaurant customers tend to “hang out” longer and spend more money when they are also playing keno.

“They buy one more drink or buy a meal or buy dessert,” said Lang.

Porter wanted to know how much revenue comes back to the town of Conway for education. Porter said to him, the selling point would be education dollars coming to Conway rather than jobs.

“Right now, the town of Conway has a problem that employees/workers have no place to live,” said Porter.

Lang explained that the state raises $363 million by way of a statewide education property tax, and that amount was reduced by $100 million because other revenues, like sports betting, came in stronger than expected. Sports betting was projected to raise $10 million but it raised $18 million.

Prior to Lang’s appearance, Porter said he was against it because he had concerns about how much money would in fact come back to Conway for education. Colbath explained he is against keno because voters have rejected it several times but he has an open mind on sports betting.

“I need to get more information about the sports betting personally before I decide,” said Colbath.

The Sun asked the selectboard if Lang’s information caused them to change their minds at all and Weathers was the only one to reply and said “no comment.”

Both articles were discussed briefly at town deliberative session last Wednesday. Candidate Joe Mosca, who is running against Thibodeau, asked why the selectboard supported sports betting and not keno. “I personally am not opposed to either one,” said Mosca. “I just found it kind of amusing that keno was not supported but that the sports betting was.”

Colbath said, “I just think it’s up to the voters to decide.”

Municipal Budget Committee member Erik Corbett said money raised by the state from keno goes to education and benefits Conway. “I think it’s only fair that we allow keno in our town if we’re taking the money from it,” said Corbett.

The article would allow betting on professional sports like football games.

The state runs its sports betting operation through Draft Kings, which uses an app called sportsbook. The number of liquor-serving establishments with keno is not limited.