A Peek at Colorado's April and Year-Long Sports Betting Performance

The state of Colorado is marking its one-year legal sports betting anniversary with an expected April drop in their overall handle and revenue haul. Following the trends of other jurisdictions that have already reported, Colorado’s April slide supports the notion of the presence of a Super Bowl and March Madness hangover.

Despite some disappointing April numbers, then end of the month represented the 365-day mark for the Colorado market and by all accounts, it has been a successful year. Launched smack in the middle of COVID-related casino shutdowns and the pause of global sports leagues, the Colorado scene can now say that they have lived through the worst of times and have emerged stronger than ever.

April in Colorado

Late spring/summer is traditionally a down time for the legal sports betting industry in the US. Absent the NFL or college basketball, the US betting menu at this time is usually made up of the very end of the NBA and NHL seasons as well as baseball. This year could be a bit different however largely due to the delay of the start and the end of the NBA and NHL campaigns.

According to the Colorado Division of Gaming, its sportsbooks reported a $244.5 million handle in April, which represents an 18.8% slide from the $300.1 million they reported in March, when the nation was in the throws of the most bet on tournament in history. Not only was it a substantial drop in handle, but it was also just the second time since launch that the state saw their month-to-month handle decline.

Sports betting revenues in Colorado also slid in March, from $20.4 million in March to $17.6 million in April - a 13.8% drop. The revenue decline wasn't as bad as the overall handle slide partly because of the 7.18% hold in April, which is up from the 6.77% in March.

Where the Money Came From

For those that follow the Colorado scene, it is absolutely no surprise that its mobile handle was responsible for the vast majority of the sports wager in the state for April. $241.9 million, or 98% of the state's overall handle came from mobile apps. That number is down from the 99% threshold set in March.

Colorado showed their affinity for basketball again in April. It was the single biggest bet on sport over the 31 days. The NBA was responsible of $84.3 million of the overall handle and the Final game of the NCAA Basketball Tournament also had an impact.

Major League Baseball finished second in terms of bet-on sports despite the disappointment of the Colorado Rockies, hockey was next thanks to the Colorado Avalanche's strong season and juggernaut table tennis continued to raise a few eyebrows within the industry by contributing $9 million toward the overall handle.

It Ain’t Just Colorado

The whole of the US legal sports betting scene was mired in a slump during April, not just Colorado. Not one jurisdiction that has reported so far experienced an uptick in betting last month. A broad increase in betting activity isn’t expected until late summer when the NFL is scheduled to kick off their regular season. Not even the Olympics of Euro 2020 are expected to help some states.

For comparison’s sake, New Jersey saw a 13% decline in their handle in April, Pennsylvania slid 14.4% Michigan saw a significant drop of 28.5% and Indiana’s sports betting scene dropped 25%.

Colorado Past, Present and Future

The end of April marked then end of Colorado’s first full year of legal sports betting. Their platform has certainly come a long way since the lean COVID-affected months last year at this time. When added up, Colorado bettors managed to spend $2.3 billion on sports wagers in 365 days, $147.4 million was made by sportsbooks over that time and at total of $6.6 million was siphoned off the profits to state and local tax coffers in Colorado.

Jessica Welman, analyst for PlayColorado sang the praises of the Colorado scene by saying: “The outlying metric continues to be the state’s take, which may yet need to be adjusted to ensure that the industry is working for every stakeholder. Still, considering the circumstances of its launch, the first year of sports betting in Colorado was a success.”

At present, Colorado remains one of the more reliable sports betting markets in the country, not quite in the top tier but certainly in the second or third. They could be in a position to outperform other states in May and June thanks to a pair of the state’s professional sports teams looking to make long playoff runs.

“Colorado’s unique mix of betting interests does help flatten some of the seasonal swings that some other major markets experience,” said Ian St Clair. “If the Nuggets and Avalanche can make deep playoff runs and the Olympics pique interest, Colorado stands a good chance of avoiding the worst of the typical summer swoon.”