New Hampshire Supreme Court Upholds Concord Casino Revocation and Sale Refusal

New Hampshire's Supreme Court has affirmed the revocation of the Concord Casino's charitable gaming licences and the refusal to license the buyer former state senator Andy Sanborn had found. The ruling confirms a regulator may count a disqualified seller's continuing ties against the buyer.

• The New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed the Lottery and Gaming Commission's orders in Appeal of Win Win Win, LLC, 2026 N.H. 40, a per curiam opinion issued on 28 October 2026
• The Commission ordered Win Win Win, LLC, which traded as Concord Casino, to be sold after finding credible evidence that it and Sanborn unlawfully obtained a federal disaster loan, and revoked its licences in November 2024
• The court upheld the buyer's rejection, citing Sanborn's continuing ties and a closing payment more than 10 times the buyer's cash on hand
• Sanborn's claims that the state blocked the sale in bad faith were not considered, because they were never raised at rehearing
• Sanborn pleaded guilty in July to a federal charge of theft of government funds and awaits sentencing, while a separate state case remains pending

New Hampshire's Highest Court Ends Sanborn's Bid to Sell the Concord Casino

The court's opinion, in consolidated cases 2024-0722 and 2024-0723, affirmed two sets of orders from the New Hampshire Lottery and Gaming Commission. One refused Win Win Win, LLC (WWW) and Anthony M. Sanborn more time to sell the casino under a forced-sale order; the other denied a prospective buyer's licence applications. Chief Justice MacDonald heard argument on 10 February but did not take part in the final vote.

According to the opinion, WWW was licensed to run a charitable gaming facility in 2018. A 2022 Commission audit raised concerns about WWW's Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the US Small Business Administration. In a 2023 suitability review under RSA 287-D:11, the Commission and the Attorney General found neither Sanborn nor WWW suitable to be associated with charitable gaming, citing credible evidence that they unlawfully obtained the loan and that Sanborn spent it on purchases it did not permit. After a hearing, the Commission suspended WWW's licences and ordered a sale to an approved buyer within six months, failing which the suspension would become a revocation.

Why the Buyer Was Turned Away

The purchase agreement depended on the buyer obtaining the licences. InDepthNH.org and NHPR report the deal at $30 million; the buyer has not been named. By letter of 30 October 2024, the Commission refused the applications after the Attorney General's office found the buyer and WWW unsuitable on two grounds: Sanborn's continued connection to WWW after closing, and the buyer's failure to demonstrate the financial capacity to meet his obligations. The licences were revoked on 26 November 2024.

Under the deal, an LLC managed by Sanborn would lease space to WWW, and Sanborn would receive earnings-based payments for several years and a share of any future sale unless conditions were met. Given the earlier findings, it "was not unlawful or unreasonable for the Commission to consider Sanborn's continued association with WWW" against the buyer, the justices wrote. The closing payment alone exceeded 10 times the buyer's cash on hand, and some later obligations approached or exceeded his net worth.

Bad-Faith Claims Fell on Procedure

The petitioners sought 12 more months to sell, arguing that the Commission's reasons were "pretextual" and that the Commission and the Attorney General had "attempted to scare off buyers". The court declined to consider this because RSA 541:4 bars grounds not raised in a motion for rehearing. It found the extension dispute moot, since the licences were not revoked until more than 15 days after the suitability review ended, which was in effect the extension the petitioners had asked for.

Attorney General John M. Formella said that "Charitable gaming in New Hampshire must be conducted with integrity, transparency, and accountability", according to InDepthNH.org. NHPR reports that Sanborn's lawyers declined to comment.

Sanborn pleaded guilty on 7 July to theft of government funds. The US Attorney's Office says he misused $255,232.72 of the $844,000 loan, including $48,750 on a 2006 Porsche Cayman. The Concord Monitor reports that sentencing is set for December and that state charges against Sanborn and WWW over the Main Street Relief Fund remain pending in Merrimack County Superior Court. Those charges are allegations. The Monitor describes the casino as shuttered.

A Forced Sale Has to Be a Clean Break

The court let the seller's lease, earn-out and future-sale rights count against the buyer. Deferred consideration is routine, but in a licensed business it keeps the disqualified owner's interest alive after closing. RSA 287-D:11 lets the regulator weigh "personal associations", and the court accepted that this reaches such arrangements. Any operator forced to divest under a suitability-based regime should assume that a buyer paying mainly from future earnings, to a seller who stays involved, will struggle to pass.

The Rehearing Motion Is Where Licensees Win or Lose

Sanborn's strongest argument, that the state obstructed the sale, was never decided. The petitioners made the bad-faith allegations in their extension motion but did not carry them into their rehearing motions, and under New Hampshire's administrative appeal statute that omission was fatal. Every ground must be set out at rehearing or it is lost.

The ruling confirms the regulator's suitability powers on both sides of a sale. For Sanborn, the licence fight is over, and his December sentencing and the state case are what remain.