January saw Colorado become the sixth state to take more than $300m in legal sports bets in a single month, as analysts project that the region’s retail and digital entities could bring more than $3bn in wagers this year.
The Centennial State’s sportsbooks generated a record $326.9m in bets in January, which is up 14.9 per cent from $284.6m in December, according to data released by the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Division of Gaming.
Gross gaming revenue also set a fresh revenue record, with the $22.7m performance surpassing the $17.2m gained a month earlier. This yielded $11.7m in net sports betting proceeds, up from $5.7m in November, and produced $1.2m in state taxes in December.
Colorado is currently the sixth largest market in terms of handle, sitting behind fifth placed Indiana which secured $348.2m last month.
“What’s really stuck out is just how relentless Colorado’s growth has been,” said Jessica Welman, analyst for PlayColorado.com. “Every month we get new data. Every month sportsbooks set a new state record.
“There has been no let-up regardless of what has happened with sports schedules during this pandemic. Growth is the rule in just about every legal jurisdiction, but none have had such a long, consistent upward trajectory.”
The opening month of 2021, in addition to the $31.2m handle sportsbooks generated on the Super Bowl, could be the beginning of a year that could bring in $3bn in wagering, $200m in gross gaming revenue, and more than $6m in state tax revenue, according to PlayColorado projections.
“With a tax rate on sports betting that is lower than in most legal states, Colorado is counting on market growth to get to a point where it is a reliable revenue generator for the state,” stated Ian St Clair, analyst for PlayColorado.com.
“That growth is coming more quickly than was projected last May, when we didn’t even know when major sports would return.”
