Colorado Sports Betting Climbs to Record Breaking Month
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Sports betting in Colorado continues to impress as the state starts to hits stride in the new industry. The Centennial State saw $207.7 million wagered in September, hitting a record in the early months of legalized sports betting in the state.
This was a 61% increase from August, which saw 128.6 million in bets. The state also landed in the top five of the largest betting handles per state, showing how much demand sports betting is seeing in Colorado.
Mobile betting continues to dominate the market as COVID-19 restricts guests to limited capacity at casinos or remained closed entirely.
Despite a surge in sports betting last month, the Centennial State actually saw negative net sports gaming proceeds. September draws a lot more bonus bets and bonus money thanks to football returning.
Colorado by the Numbers
Colorado brought in over $207 million in bets this past month. Unfortunately, the Centennial State did generate negative revenue and only brought in $69.7K in taxes. The reason for the negative revenue was an additional bonus money being used to bet.
In September, sportsbooks see an influx of sign-ups thanks to the NFL starting up. People want to bet football, so sign-up promotions become a majority of September bets, not tax money. Regardless, the revenue should even itself out next month.
In the U.S., football is king, but baseball saw the largest handle among any sport in Colorado. There was $47.1 million in baseball bets for September, beating out football that saw $38.6 million in bets. Basketball was a close third with $37.8 million.
Colorado separates pro-American football and college football from wagers. When combining the betting handle between the two, football saw a total of $42.5 million in bets. Still almost $5 million away from baseball.
The Centennial State has had unique betting reports regarding what sports were being wagered on. Before major U.S. sports returned to action, table tennis was the sport to bet. Even in September, table tennis saw over $5 million in bets, which was higher than college football.
Table tennis was the fifth most bet sport behind baseball, football, basketball, and hockey.
What will October Bring?
Expect the betting handle to fall, but revenue to increase next month. States across the U.S. benefitted from the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL, all playing a full schedule in September. Now, October will bring the NFL and MLB playoffs. Five of the six NBA Finals games were played in October, so basketball should help, but not as much as September.
College football is also seeing more conferences join in, including the Big Ten, which started this past Saturday. The Mountain West also started in October, which gives a slight boost, but the Pac 12 will not start until November.
Overall, football should return to the most bet sport in October with baseball following. Colorado will also be happy to bring in more revenue and taxes next month when a lot of bonus money is put to the side, and bettors start putting action on games with their own funds.
Overall, Colorado helps drive betting revenue up for the U.S. with major sports back in the mix.
