Colorado Betting Handle Dips in February but GGR Increases

A new report released by the Colorado Department of Revenue sheds light on the performance of licensed sports betting operators during February. Overall, the betting handle reported by operators this February hit $425.1 million. This result, when compared to the result from the corresponding period in 2022 marked a decrease, considering that back then, the betting handle was $440.5 million.

Still, despite the dip in the betting handle, the total gross gaming revenue (GGR) in February 2023 increased, judging by figures from the recent report. In total, GGR this February hit $22.6 million. When compared to the result reported in February 2022, when the GGR halted at $19.6 million, an increase of 15.3% is observed this year.

A breakdown of the $22.6 million in GGR shows that the majority of the revenue was generated by online/mobile betting. This comes as no surprise and in fact, retail betting only contributed by nearly $50,000 in GGR for this February. The total online/mobile betting GGR this February was $22,549,657. As noted, this result surpassed the figure reported for the corresponding period in 2022 and in fact, represented an increase of nearly $3 million.

Super Bowl Betting Handle Decreases Year-Over-Year

Despite the increase in GGR, the payments to players this February decreased when compared to February 2022. Last year, the total payments to players hit $420.9 million, breaking down to $415.3 million in online and $5.6 million in retail payments to players. In contrast, this February, the total payments to players halted at $402.5 million, breaking down to $399.1 million in online and $3.4 million in retail payments to players.

In February, the Super Bowl LVII met the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. In the end, the Chiefs won against the Eagles, but judging by the new results, the competition didn’t have much impact on the monthly results.

The latest report doesn’t share a specific breakdown for the betting handle during Super Bowl LVII. Instead, it shows that the football – pro American segment of the betting handle was $27.6 million, representing a year-over-year decrease when compared to February 2022. To compare the two figures, last year, the betting handle for football was $31.5 million. In other words, this February, the betting handle dipped by nearly $4 million.

A breakdown of the percentage of bets by sports reveals that football was the third-most-popular sport. The first and most popular sport for wagers in Colorado this February was basketball, representing 36.6% of the wagers, followed by NCAA Basketball with 16%. As noted, football was third with a 6.5% share of the wagers, followed closely by tennis with 6% and ice hockey with 5%.