Clairvest and ECL to build HHR facility in New Hampshire
Clairvest Group has acquired licenced gaming operations in New Hampshire.
US.- Clairvest Group has announced that, together with Clairvest Equity Partners VI and ECL Entertainment, it has acquired licenced gaming operations that will enable it to build a historic horse racing facility in southern New Hampshire.
Clairvest and ECL have acquired NHCG and The River Property & Hospitality Group, which operate the Lucky Moose Casino and Tavern and The River Casino & Sports Bar, both located in Nashua. Founded in in 2006, NHCG has one of the two HHR licences in Nashua. It launched HHR in October 2022 with 65 machines.
Clairvest and ECL plan to operate NHCG at its current locations but plan a large-scale permanent HHR facility in Nashua for 2024. ECL owns and operates multiple historical horse racing facilities in Kentucky including The Mint Gaming Hall at Kentucky Downs.
Michael Wagman, president and managing director of Clairvest, said: “We are excited to partner with ECL and their seasoned team on this gaming project. Together with ECL’s deep experience and proven track record of building and operating HHR assets, we believe NHCG will be a successful local market gaming facility and provide both entertainment and immediate economic benefits to the community.”
Marc Falcone, managing partner of ECL, added: “After several years of building a relationship with Michael, we chose to partner with Clairvest given their depth of experience and positive reputation in the gaming sector. We look forward to working with the Clairvest team over the next few years to build NHCG into one of the most sought-after HHR gaming platforms in the New Hampshire market.”
New Hampshire sets new sports betting handle record in March
New Hampshire saw wagers of $103.4m in March, up 31.2 per cent from $78.8m in March 2022 and up 18.9 per cent from $87m in February this year. The handle beat the previous monthly high set back in January 2022 ($99.5m) by 3.9 per cent.
Players wagered $93.4m online, while the remaining $10m was spent at retail sportsbooks. The New Hampshire Lottery reported gross gaming revenue from sports betting of $4.8m, up by 92 per cent year-on-year but 32.4 per cent behind the $7.1m reported from February. Online sports betting generated $2.8m while retail sportsbooks contributed $2.1m.
