Colorado wagering numbers up YoY, but handle down against June

The latest Colorado revenue report shows an 8.6% decrease in handle compared to June, but a 30.4% increase in taxes paid to the state. Digital wagering operators paid $2.4m (£$1.8m/€2.2m) to the state and bettors laid down $320.3m in handle.

The department of revenue uses the term “net sports betting proceeds” (NSBP) to identify operator revenue. For July, it was $25m, compared to $19.2m in June. Of that, the state’s online platforms accounted for $24.8m in NSBP and retail sportsbooks accounted for $175,009. Revenue was up from $19.1m in July 2023.

Baseball the most popular sport

The Colorado regulator does not break down its sports betting report by operator, but it does break it down by sport. Betting on baseball led all categories, with $94.6m wagered. The next biggest category was parlays, on which bettors wagered $64m.

In terms of sports bet on, the next four after baseball were basketball ($55.8m), tennis ($34.9m), soccer ($28.2m) and table tennis ($14m). Colorado sportsbooks launched in the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic and shutdowns in May 2020, when there were few choices of sports to wager on. Bettors turned to international table tennis and the interest appears to have stuck.

Tennis likely saw a bump due to Wimbledon, which was played in the first half of July. Similarly, soccer’s bump is probably attributable to the CONMEBOL Copa America and UEFA Euro tournaments, both of which were also played in the first weeks of July.

“Summer athletics” also saw a bit of a surge due to the Paris Olympics. the category made the top 10 with $1.5m in wagers. Operators held about 26%.

Colorado operators recorded a double-digit hold for only the second time this year. Retail and digital bookmakers combined to keep 10.2% of wagers. In June, they held 8.1% and in May, 10.1%. Prior to that, the last double-digit hold was 11.4% in September 2022, according to the Sports Handle revenue and tax database.