Colorado’s sports betting market continued its steady growth in January 2021.
According to the latest figures from the Colorado Division of Gaming, bettors in Colorado wagered $326.9m on sporting events in January setting a new record for the state.
January’s sports betting handle topped the state’s previous handle record of $284.6m from December 2020.
Colorado’s sports betting revenue also hit a new high of $23.1m up from the $17.2m generated in December.
Sportsbooks in the state contributed $1.2m in tax revenue to the state in January.
Online betting accounted for the majority of the state’s handle after bettors wagered $319m on sports via online and mobile sportsbook. In turn, online sports betting operations accounted for $22.7m of the state’s total revenue in January.
Meanwhile, land-based sportsbooks, which are only operational in three colorado towns, processed $7.5m in bets in January.
What did people bet on?
According to the state report, NBA bets accounted for the majority of January’s handle after bettors in the state wagered $88.3m on professional basketball events.
Professional football was the second most popular sport to bet on in January with $75m being wagered on these games.
College basketball took third place when compared to other sports as bettors wagered $39.9m on these events.
Bettors wagered $11.8m on table tennis events in January making it the fourth most popular sport to bet on, while Coloradans wagered $9.6m on hockey events.
Parlay bets accounted for $53.3m of the state’s total betting handle in January.
Sports betting in Colorado
The Centennial State narrowly legalised sports betting in November 2019 after voters approved the sports betting measure through a referendum.
Like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Indiana, Colorado law allows sports bettors to register online accounts remotely from anywhere within state lines.
More operators are expected to launch in Colorado, which could have more than 30 sportsbook operators once the market reaches full maturity.
Since sports betting went live in the Centennial State in May 2020 sportsbooks processed almost $1.2bn in total bets in 2020.
