Colorado Earns Revenue Surge for Sports Betting in March

The Colorado Department of Revenue is out with their March sports betting earnings report, and while overall wagering activity in the state may be down just slightly, the best sports betting sites reported increases in profits from a month-over-month and year-over-year perspective.

March Madness, just like in all other states that have already reported out their March numbers, helped Colorado sportsbooks tremendously in March. The number of upsets during the NCAA Tournament led to a high win rate and more revenue at the best March Madness betting sites.

Starting with the handle

Colorado sportsbooks took in a total of $494.4 million in March, which represents a 16.3% from the $425.1 million reported in February. While an impressive month-over-month jump, the sports betting handle for March of 2023 was 2.2% lower than the $505.6 million in wagering activity posted in March of 2022.

The Colorado retail sports betting handle made some news in March, contributing a very respectable $4.5 million to the state's overall handle. Black Hawk Casino revenues came in at $154,223, while Cripple Creek made $6,998 in profits in March.

Basketball dominated the Colorado sports betting scene in March. The Department of Revenue is reporting that 287.3 million, or 58% of the overall $494.4 million handle came from hoops action — $92.3 million of which was attributed to March Madness. Hockey and tennis were next with just over $25 million each in wagers during the March reporting period.

Colorado March revenue shows huge gains

While Colorado's legal sports betting handle reflected mixed results month-over-month and year-over-year, the best sportsbooks in the state revealed strong revenue increases in March.

A total of $45.9 million in sportsbook total gross gaming revenue was reported by the state's wagering providers in March, thanks to a sportsbook-friendly 9.3% hold rate. The $45.9 million is an impressive 103% increase from the $22.6 million reported in February 2023 and 62.7% year-over-year increase from the $28.2 million from March 2022.

Total net sports betting profits for March came in at $35.4 million.

Colorado's mobile betting sites accounted for nearly all of the sportsbook profits in the state. $45.7 million in revenues came from internet-based sites, while just over $172,000 came from Colorado's retail sports betting sector.

Tax contributions spiked in March

Thanks to the increased profits and win rate experienced by Colorado legal sports betting providers, taxes paid to the state rose an incredible 147% from February’s report. A total of $3.1 million in taxes was paid to the state by Colorado's legal sports betting providers in March, up from $1.26 million in February. 

Year-over-year tax contributions to the state from the Colorado legal sports betting industry jumped 136%.

March’s tax contribution from the state's legal sports betting providers took the year-to-date total to $20.3 million, nearly a 120% increase from the same first three-month period last year.