Colorado legalises sports betting by referendum

Colorado has legalised sports betting statewide through referendum, with the proposition (Proposition DD) receiving 51.1% of the vote.

The race was called after a total of 756,720 people voted in favour of legalizing sports betting, while 723,665 voted against the proposition.

The proposition read: “Shall state taxes be increased by twenty-nine million dollars annually to fund state water projects and commitments and to pay for the regulation of sports betting through licensed casinos by authorizing a tax on sports betting of ten percent of net sports betting proceeds, and to impose the tax on persons licensed to conduct sports betting?”

The referendum was too close to call at the end of Tuesday (5 November) night and so stretched into Wednesday morning. However, the vote for the proposition exceeded the threshold to automatically trigger a recount, which occurs if the margin of victory less or equal to than 0.5%  of the winning total.