Colorado Sports Betting Revenue Soars by 314%

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the US state of Colorado rose by 314.2% between September and the end of October, to reach $17.4m (£12.9m/€14.3m).

The Colorado Department of Revenue reported the figures this week, which also revealed that handle in the state was $210.7m (£155.8m/€173.6m) in October.

This was a 1.3% rise from a handle of $207.7m in September, which saw players win $193.3m from wagers.

Colorado legalised sports betting in November 2019 and the market launched on 1 May 2020. It recorded GGR of just $4.2m in September.

The majority of October’s revenue came from online wagering, which accounted for $16.7m. Retail operations made up $667,943.

Net sports betting proceeds, which are the gross gaming revenue minus a 0.25% federal excise tax and any promotions, such as free bets and bonuses – rose from a loss of $3.4m in September to $9.6m in October.

Online betting was responsible for $9m, which equated to 93.8% of total net proceeds.

The industry generated $824,700 in taxes for Colorado in October, of which $757,614 came from online activity and $67,086 from retail.

The bumper month coincided with sporting competitions such as the National Football League, which brought in $68m of all sports bets that month. Major League Baseball’s World Series, also brought in $23m in bets.

Meanwhile, parlay bets supplied $37.2m of wagers and $12.7m was bet on basketball in October. College football accounted for $16.5m in handle.

DraftKings and FanDuel are thought to have generated 84% of the state’s GGR since it went live with sports betting in May.

DraftKings can claim around 46% of the total, or more than $18m in October, while FanDuel has 38%, or $15m in October.

Since the end of October, PointsBet has entered the market, while Penn National’s Barstool-branded app is expected to launch soon.