Sports betting’s first decline in Colorado

Colorado’s sports betting industry has suffered its first month-over-month decline in wagering due to February’s 28 days and the conclusion of the NFL season, according to PlayColorado.

“February is a reminder that with the seasonality of sports betting, growth is never assured even in a market like Colorado,” said Jessica Welman, analyst for PlayColorado.

“In nearly every legal betting market, a pullback from January was expected mainly because there is nowhere near the NFL inventory of games to bet on, even with the Super Bowl. Colorado is a unique market in many ways, but ultimately it is still subject to the same sports betting dynamics as any other state.”

Colorado’s online and retail sportsbooks combined to take in $266.5m in bets in February, according to data released on Monday by the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Division of Gaming.

Overall handle was down 18.5 per cent from $326.9m in bets in January and the lowest monthly handle since November’s $231.2m. Bettors placed about $9.5m bets per day in February, down from $10.5m in January.