October Provides Colorado Second Best Sports Betting Handle Ever

Colorado sports betting apps, including some of our best sports betting apps, and the state's retail providers combined to deliver the Centennial State its second straight month with over $550 million in wagers in October. 

According to the Colorado Department of Revenue report, the state’s sports betting providers enjoyed their second-best handle month in October. Also, they reported their second-highest revenue month in the process. 

Colorado's sports betting handle also allowed the Centennial State to hit a couple of milestones. Colorado sports betting eclipsed $1 billion in gross operators’ revenues, becoming the 10th state to do so. October's numbers also put the state's year-to-date handle over $4 billion and took the state's lifetime handle over $14 billion, making Colorado the seventh state to reach that milestone. 

$554.9 million October handle for Colorado

Centennial State bettors supported Colorado sports betting apps and retail providers in droves in October. There were $554.9 million in sports bets reported by the Colorado Department of Revenue on Wednesday. That figure falls behind only January 2022, when $573.7 million in bets was taken in by Colorado sports betting providers.

It also represents the eighth time Colorado sportsbooks have eclipsed $550 million in a month.

Sports betting in Colorado was an 8.2% month-over-month jump from the $512.8 million generated in September and 5.4% better than the $526.6 million reported in October 2022.

Sports betting apps were responsible for the overwhelming majority of the October wagering action in the state as bettors took advantage of Colorado sportsbook promos. All but $4.4 million of the $554.9 million in October bets came from Colorado online sportsbooks.

Lifetime handle for Colorado sportsbooks surpassed $14 billion in October which ranks as the sixth-best total for any state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned their blanket ban on sports betting on 2018.

Revenues check in as second best ever too

It wasn't just October's overall sports betting activity in the Centennial State that came in as the second best for Colorado's best sportsbooks. Revenue totals were also the second-best the state has ever seen.

Gross sports betting revenue for Colorado sportsbooks came in at $46.9 million in October. It ranks second behind only September 2022, when $51.3 million in profits was reported for the state's sports betting providers. The figure is a 3.5% month-over-month improvement from September's profit total and is 28.5% higher than the $36.5 million in profits from October 2022.

Online sportsbooks provided $47 million in revenue. Colorado retail sportsbooks wound up with a $90,000 loss. 

After promotions and deductions, adjusted gross revenues came in at $33.1 million in October, allowing $3.4 million in taxes to be collected for needy state and local tax coffers. 

As mentioned, October's figures allowed Colorado to surpass $1 billion in lifetime gross gaming revenues.

Football dominates

To nobody's surprise, football dominated Colorado's overall sports betting action. It accounted for a record of about $185.2 million of the state's overall handle, or just over 33%. Parlays, extremely popular in the Colorado market, generated an all-time best $117.1 million, with basketball the next most popular sports betting opportunity with about $63.4 million or 11.4%.

New operators to the Colorado scene

The Colorado legal sports betting industry has shaken in the last few months. Two new providers have gone live to take on the biggest and best names in the broader U.S. industry: DraftKings and FanDuel.

ESPN BET debuted on November 14, and Fanatics Betting and Gaming took over from PointsBet in the state just last week.

Eyes will be on the Colorado scene to see if one or both new providers can make a dent in the impressive FanDuel and DraftKings market share.