The Colorado Department of Revenue reported its lowest sports betting handle since August 2022, and lowest GGR since June last year. Combined retail and online handle for sports betting in Colorado was $310.7 million, with GGR reported as $9.2 million.
Where did the CO handle go?
Handle dropped 19% from the $385.2 million reported in May, and 0.8% from June year-over-year. 34% of total wagers made were on Major League Baseball which was comfortably the most wagered on sport for the month. $104.6 million was wagered on Baseball, with $100 million paid in prizes – giving Colorado Baseball a margin of approximately 4.4%.
The second most wagered on sport was Basketball, which saw the Denver Nuggets win the NBA after a 4-1 finals victory over Miami Heat. Denver Nuggets are Colorado based and thus one would suggest the majority of wagers would be in support of the home-state. Given $57.9 million was wagered and $69 million was paid out, it’s safe to say that Colorado sportsbooks fell truly on the wrong side of sporting results while punters reveled in a local victory.
The only sports (combined retail and online) that took over $20 million in handle were Basketball and Tennis. Soccer and Golf rounded out the top five for Colorado, with Table Tennis coming in sixth. Parlays also took $70 million in handle, and $14 million in the broadly categorized ‘other’ sports.
Colorado enacted legislation in 2019 for the state’s 33 licensed casinos to obtain a master’s license to offer sports betting at their casino via online or mobile. Colorado sports betting legislation recently saw a reduction in the amount of promotional credits deductible for tax purposes. There has been no concerted push for CO legalized online casino of late.
Approximately $7 million were provided in promotional credits in June 2023. The retail book in Colorado took GR of -$674k, whereas online reached $9.9 million to offset retail’s losses.
The US summer blues continue
August sees the last ‘dry’ month for American sport, although the English Premier League and global soccer does return which may see a small uptick in wagering. Generally, however, US bettors continue to be inelastic on NBA, NFL and MLB with a little NHL thrown in for good measure.