Colorado Has Worst Sports Betting Handle Month Since September in April 2024

Colorado's best sportsbooks reported their April sports betting financials last week, but the news was mostly underwhelming. It wasn't all bad, and it was more or less in line with nationwide trends.

The Colorado Department of Revenue April report released on Friday shows that Colorado sports betting apps and the state’s retail providers combined to see a substantial year-over-year improvement in wagering activity and that the Centennial State had surpassed a half-billion mark in terms of handle for the eighth straight month.

With those figures added in, the Colorado sports betting scene became just the sixth state to surpass the $18 billion mark in terms of lifetime handle. It joined the New Jersey sports betting, New York sports betting, Nevada sports betting, Illinois sports betting, and Pennsylvania sports betting scenes in that elite club.

The bad news is that sports betting revenues were down month over month, and the handle dropped, expectedly from March, when college hoops buoyed the overall wagering scene.

A poor hold rate and a disappointing showing by Colorado’s retail sports betting providers sunk profits for providers in the Centennial State as we head into the annual summer sports betting slowdown across the country.

$509.5 million April handle

Sports bettors in the Centennial State spent a total of $509.5 million with Colorado’s best sportsbooks. Colorado sports betting apps were responsible for $507.1 million of the state's sports betting total, with retail making up the remaining nearly $2.5 million.

That's about $83.5 million less month-over-month than the nearly $593.1 million handle from March but is over $91.5 million better year-over-year than the sports wagering activity from April 2023 when there was $417.8 million in accepted bets in the state. Residents are clearly taking advantage of numerous Colorado sportsbook promos.

Through the first four months of 2024, $2.24 billion in bets have flowed into Colorado sports betting sites and retail sportsbooks. That is an 18.7% year-over-year improvement from the first four months of 2023.

Revenues underwhelm

Revenues for Colorado’s best sportsbooks were somewhat disappointing in April, mostly due to a win rate of just 6.3%. It has been a whopping 19 months since Colorado sports betting providers, including some of our best sports betting apps, saw a hold rate of over 10%.

Colorado's gross sports betting revenues for April 2024 were $32 million. This is a surprising 8.9% year-over-year drop from the nearly $35.2 million in April 2023 and a 28.9% month-over-month decline from the $45 million in revenues reported in March.

Colorado sports betting sites posted $32.2 million in gross revenues, while retail sportsbooks in the state lost $160K in April. So far in 2024, Colorado sportsbook revenues stand at $156.3 million, a 12.3% improvement from last year's four-month period.

Tax revenue came in at $1.9 million from the $68 million in adjusted gross revenue for Colorado sports betting providers. Year-to-date, Centennial State sportsbooks have contributed $10.2 million toward needy state and local tax coffers, just over $664K more than through the first four months of last year.

College Hoops hurt bottom line

Colorado’s best sportsbooks took a beating from the NCAA Men’s and Women's Basketball tournaments, having the pre-tournament favorites winning their respective crowns. Connecticut’s and South Carolina’s wins led to a $680K loss for Colorado sportsbooks despite an over 50% year-over-year spike in betting on the event when $8.5 million was bet on March Madness in Colorado this year.

“Other” sports provided a $1.3 million monthly loss for Colorado sports betting providers from a $28.6 million handle.

Pro hoops kept Colorado sportsbooks afloat in April. A $168.6 million handle from the NBA (33.3% of the overall state total) provided $7.2 million in winnings for Centennial State sportsbooks off an underwhelming 4.3% hold. NBA betting saw a 24.1% year-over-year increase in handle in Colorado in April.

Baseball was the second-most popular sport to wager on in Colorado in April. It produced $85.8 million in bets (16.9% of the total), while tennis was responsible for 6.4% of the April handle, hockey generated 5.2%, soccer was at 4.1%, and table tennis continued to hold its own, making up 2.6% of Colorado’s April sports betting total.

Parlay and same-game parlay continued to be the biggest revenue producer for our best sports betting sites in Colorado. In April, those markets generated $16.1 million in revenue, thanks to a $105.1 million handle and a 15.3% hold.