Sports Betting Handle in Colorado Increases for Fifth Month in a Row, Surpassed $600 Million

The monthly sports betting handle in Colorado keeps increasing. The results for November were released, and according to them, the handle increased for the fifth month in a row. 

A huge decrease:

In November, in Colorado casinos, the players wagered more than $600 million, with a total handle of $608.5 million.

This is good news for the state, but operators aren’t so happy about the revenue. Compared to previous months and years, their losses are significant.

The revenue from sports betting was $28.5 million in November, which is a 60.7% decrease from October. Compared to November 2022, when the revenue was $37.6 million, the decrease is 24.2%.

The main reason for the decrease is the luck of bettors – the players won more money than usual, which is good news for them, but bad for operators and the state. The players won $579.9 million in total, and the hold percentage was 4.7%, which is a 44.4% decrease compared to October, when a hold percentage was 8.46%. Compared to the previous year, the hold percentage decreased by 30.9%.

But despite the decrease, it seems that the sports betting market in Colorado is becoming more and more popular among the players.

Increased popularity of mobile sports betting:

Both online sports betting and retail sportsbooks are legal in Colorado’s three towns where gambling is available. When it comes to online betting, the biggest revenue comes from mobile sports betting.

Online sports betting is much more popular in Colorado than retail betting, with more than 99% handle coming from online sportsbooks, with a total handle of $602.9 million. The online market brought the state and operators $28.2 million in revenue, which is 98.7% of the total revenue.

Retail sportsbook had a handle of $5.6 million, and the players won $5.2 million. The hold percentage was 6.64%. The casinos earned $369.619 in revenue, and the total net earnings were $355.684, which is a decrease of about 20% annually, mostly because of the increased popularity of mobile wagering.

However, the handle increased by 21.4% compared to October, when the revenue was $4.4 million, while in November it was $5.6 million. The most popular retail sportsbook was Black Hawk, with a revenue of $352.134.

When it comes to sports, the most popular were basketball and football, and the NFL generated huge revenue in both retail and online handles. The NFL generated almost $1.9 million in retail bets and $149.3 million in online wagers. Of the total amount of $151.2 million, the players won $146.2 million.

Basketball got $143.6 million in bets: $141.8 million in online bets, and $1.9 million in the retail sector. Players won $137.9 million in total.

Play Colorado reports that professional football and basketball were followed by college football and basketball, and after them came parlay bets.