Colorado sportsbooks took in $266.5 million in wagers during February, which included $39.5 million on Super Bowl LV, according to a statement Monday from the state’s Department of Revenue.
The overall figure was the third-highest in the state’s brief sports betting history, behind January’s $326 million and the $284 million sportsbooks took in last December. Sports betting launched in Colorado in May 2020.
The revenues from sports betting were $10.4 million, down from a single-month record of $23.1 million in January. Colorado collected taxes of $332,227 from sports betting in February.
Mobile betting continues to account for a majority share of the total betting handle, with 97% of wagers made online and 3% of wagers placed in retail sportsbooks inside the state’s casinos in Cripple Creek, Black Hawk, and Central City.
“One year ago, we were talking about the casinos in Colorado shutting down due to the pandemic,” Dan Hartman, director of the Colorado Division of Gaming, said in a statement. “This March, in comparison, we’re looking forward to a new outlook for the gaming industry, given the open sportsbook retail locations and multiple online options. Add in the March Madness championships, and we believe all of these factors will continue the growth trajectory that we see with sports betting in Colorado.”
The state doesn’t break down sports betting revenues by operators, just by the sport.
National Basketball Association games took over the top spot in February from the NFL, with $95 million in wagers. After the Super Bowl, NCAA basketball was third with $24 million in bets. Table Tennis was in the fourth spot with $13 million in total wagers, and the NHL was fifth with $9 million in wagers.
Colorado is home to the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
Of the states reporting sports wagering numbers for February, Colorado was the seventh-largest market in the U.S. for the month, falling just short of Indiana’s $273.9 million in sports wagers. Michigan, in its first full month of sports betting, topped both states with more than $325 million in both online and retail sports betting.
During February, New Jersey sportsbooks took in $743 million in bets, Nevada $554 million, Pennsylvania $510 million, and Michigan $326 million.
Earlier this month, North Carolina became the nation’s 22nd legal sports betting jurisdiction when Caesars Entertainment opened sportsbooks at two casinos the company operates for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
