SPORTS BETTING

US – Colorado sportsbooks set new revenue record in November

By Phil - 4 January 2022

Colorado sportsbooks posted record revenue in November, yielding nearly $2m in taxes for the state, even as the $475m handle fell short of October’s all-time high.

November’s results in Colorado further strengthened a historic surge of sports betting across the US, even as one fewer weekend than October meant fewer football games to wager on, according to PlayColorado, which tracks the state’s regulated sports betting market.

“Every market has grown significantly over the last few months, but few have performed better than Colorado since the football season began in September,” said Ian St. Clair, lead analyst for PlayColorado.com. “November was a sort of litmus test for how sustainable the growth will be once football season ends because there were fewer games played than in October. A jump in basketball betting is an excellent sign for sportsbooks.”

Bettors poured $475.4m into Colorado’s online and retail sportsbooks in November, falling 3.3 per cent short of the record $491.5m in wagers reached in October, according to data released Monday by the Colorado Division of Gaming. Despite the modest month-over-month drop, November’s average betting volume actually stayed level with the 31 days of October at $15.85m per day.

Year-over-year volume surged 105.6 per cent from $231.2m in November 2020. Much of those wagers were made through online sportsbooks, which generated $469m, or 89.6 per cent, of Colorado’s total handle.

Sportsbooks shattered the state’s gross revenue record with $36.8m in November, 28.5 per cent from the previous record of $28.6m set last month. Year-over-year, gross revenue was up 100.4 per cent from $18.4m in November 2020.

Net sports betting proceeds rose to $19.3m from $9.8m in October, breaking the record of $11.7m set in January. That yielded $1.98m in state taxes, the most ever in a single month in Colorado.

“Sportsbooks have been aiming to capitalize on the busiest period of the year to broaden their customer bases,” said Eric Ramsey, analyst for the PlayUSA.com network, which includes PlayColorado.com. “The strategy has worked, as revenue for sportsbooks and for the state has grown even as promotional spending has remained near all-time highs.”

November’s results came in spite of one fewer weekend for football compared with October. Pro football generated $140.3m in wagers in November, which was down from $171.2m in October. And college football slowed to $29.4m from $51.2m in October.

A hot run by the Denver Broncos in November helped stem the loss of one fewer weekend of football. But it’s basketball that mostly made up for the loss of football inventory. Pro basketball wagering jumped to $124.7m in November from $63.3m in October. The first month of college basketball generated another $29m. Ice hockey ($14m) and soccer ($11.2m) contributed significant action, too.

“Sportsbooks have made significant gains in customers this fall, and bettors have become increasingly comfortable with diverse forms of betting,” said Ian St. Clair, lead analyst for PlayColorado.com. “Colorado’s bettors already have a diverse interest in sports beyond football. But operators have an opportunity over the next few months to leverage the growth made during football season into more forms of sports betting.”