The New Hampshire Lottery, which was originally known as the New Hampshire Sweepstakes, is the oldest legal lottery in the United States. State Representative Larry Pickett saw a sweepstakes as a viable and voluntary method of raising money for education. Between 1953 and 1963, Pickett proposed a Sweepstakes bill five times, finally succeeding in getting it passed in 1963. On April 30 of that year, Governor John King signed the bill. New Hampshire cities and towns voted by special ballot, with 198 of the state’s 211 communities voting in favor of starting a lottery. On March 12, 1964, two days after the vote, Sweepstakes tickets went on sale – and the benefits to New Hampshire schools began.

New Hampshire is part of the Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which it joined in 1995. New Hampshire also is a member of the Tri-State Lottery, whose other members are Maine and Vermont. Established in 1985, the Tri-State Lottery was America’s first multi-jurisdictional lottery. All New Hampshire Lottery games require players to be at least 18 years old.

Initially, the New Hampshire Sweepstakes was conducted by Thoroughbred horse races at Salem's Rockingham Park, with the winning numbers based on the races, rather than simply drawing numbers from a barrel or using ping-pong balls, to avoid violating US anti-lottery statutes.