Colorado’s betting numbers show mixed results in May

The Colorado Division of Gaming has finally released the May sports betting numbers, and the results were mixed.

The handle was up during the month, but the gross sports betting revenue was down.

May is typically a slow month when it comes to sports betting, but the state saw $248.9 million in handle last month. That was an increase of 1.8% from the month of April, and the longer month helped improve the numbers.

Mobile betting made up $246.5 million in the month of May, which accounted for nearly 99 percent of all the wagers placed. Online betting has led the way since sports betting was launched in May 2020, but there was hope that retail betting would catch up at some point.

New retail sportsbooks continue to launch in the state of Colorado, including the SuperBook. That was not available in May, but there is hope that it will improve the retail numbers moving forward, especially since all COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.

The gross sports betting revenue dropped by nearly 14 percent month-to-month, and that is a trend that the state needs to reverse in the coming months. In May, the total sports betting revenue was just $15.1 million after it was $17.5 million in April.

The drop in the gross betting revenue also led to a massive decrease in sports betting tax that was paid to the state. In May, the state collected just $635,641 from sports betting after it saw more than $1 million paid out in April.

Colorado continues to post solid sports betting numbers overall, but these numbers could dip a bit over the next few months.

Basketball Continues to Lead the Way

The Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche were both in the middle of exciting playoff runs in May, and that also played a role in the state seeing a jump in the total handle. Those runs have since ended, leaving just the Colorado Rockies as the local professional team.

Basketball, specifically the NBA, was the top betting market in the state in May. The NBA accounted for $86.9 million of the total handle, and that trend should be reflected in the June totals as well.

Sportsbook operators have continued to express a lack of interest from bettors when it comes to the Colorado Rockies, but baseball was still the second-biggest market in Colorado in May. The total handle for baseball was $49 million, finishing well above the other markets.

Hockey was next on the list at $15.4 million, and a majority of that action came on the Avalanche. Soccer rounded out the top five by bringing in $9.8 million in betting handle.

Of course, the fourth spot on the list was once again held by table tennis as Colorado continues to see plenty of action on that unique sport. Colorado is the only state that sees table tennis as a popular betting option, and it has been that way since the industry launched over a year ago.

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