Colorado Sports Betting in March Surpassed Super Bowl-Led February

Sports betting in Colorado registered a strong month in March according to the monthly report released by the Colorado Department of Revenue which showed a double-digit increase in betting handle on a sequential basis.

Online Betting Domination

The report published by the Colorado Department of Revenue revealed that the sports betting handle for March reached $494.4 million, registering an increase of 16.3% to $425.1 million in February and a decrease of 2.2% from $505.6 million in March 2022. Online wagers represent more than 99% of the total, $489.9 million, leaving the remaining just over $4.5 million to retail sportsbooks.

After bettors were paid back $448.5 million in winnings, gross gaming revenue in March amounted was $45.9 million, posting an increase of 62.7% year-over-year and equaling a win percentage of 9.29%. March GGR was a significant move up from the $22.6 million operators registered in February, the month in which the country’s biggest sports betting event, the Super Bowl, traditionally takes place.

Total net sports betting proceeds were $35.4 million, while the State of Colorado collected $3.1 million in taxes on sports betting, up 146.8% as compared to February, bringing the year-to-date amount to $20.3 million, an increase of 119.2% as compared to the taxes collected during the same three-month period in 2022.

The Biggest Wagering Interest

Much like in February when the sport attracting the most wagers sport was basketball, March registered $287.3 million in basketball wagers, or 39% of the total, posting an increase from the 36.6% of basketball wagers in the previous month.

Unlike in February, bettors were less successful during the month, with $175.9 million, or 91.1% of the total $193 million wagered on basketball being paid back to them. For comparison, successful basketball bets in February amounted to 96.1% of the total.

Bettors in Colorado also wagered an additional $94.3 million on the NCAA March Madness, or 19% of the total, with roughly $90 million of those being paid back in winnings.

Ice hockey, which attracted wagers of $25.3 million, ranked second, marginally surpassing tennis which ranked third with $25.1 million. Soccer and baseball were the other two sports that completed the top five with $19.4 million and $8.2 million in wagers, respectively.

Two of the games of the Colorado Rockies also contributed to the sports betting figures in March, as the team registered two wins of their total of nine MLB wins so far and helped baseball take the next place in the ranking by generating $8.2 million in wagers.

Another significant segment of the total was parlay/combinations betting which accounted for just 87.8% or $75.5 million out of a total of $90.3 million of wagers being paid back to bettors.