Colorado Sports Betting on the Rise in November 2024

Colorado is seeing an increase in its monthly sports wagering results, with the state data-collector, the Department of Revenue, reporting that a total of $647,951,807 worth of wagers was handled in November.

This has been the highest recorded month of sports betting handle, with the only exception of December 2023, when the state saw its record-breaking tally of $717,430,270 in total sports betting handle. 

Parlay Bets and NFL Remain the Most Bet-on Markets in Colorado

Much of what happened in Colorado in November was expected, as the state has been on an upward trajectory for several months now, with the bulk of the total handle being generated through online sportsbooks, or some 99.40% according to official data. Although handle wasn’t the largest on record for the Centennial State’s sportsbooks, the gross sportsbook revenue was.

This is the highest amount generated in a single month at $55,666,475 when examining revenue alone. The state also took its cut, with $3,958,611 generated for the tax, and sportsbook enjoying a rather strong hold percentage of 8.60%.

Colorado’s sports bettors continued to bet on the National Football League the most, followed by basketball, which made up the bulk of the wagering market. Farther down were events such as NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball.

Players also engaged in parlays which brought up the bulk of the action, without specificity to the preferred sport, although NFL parlays were clearly in the lead. Sports betting has been steadily gaining traction in the Centennial State since it was introduced on May 1, 2020.

The industry is regulated by the Colorado Division of Gaming. Although Colorado does provide insight into what the most popular sports and wager types are, the regulator has refrained from offering per-sportsbook data, and how much market share they had in terms of handle and revenue.

Despite the popularity of the NFL, however, the segment did see a small dip in the monthly results, which could be because sports bettors are now venturing to explore other sports and options and leverage parlay bets across multiple sports.

Colorado Offers Detailed Per-Sport Breakdown of Betting Results

The NBA generated a total betting handle of $148.4 million in November, a significant uptick from the $82.4 million posted in October. Meanwhile, other sports seemed to be doing rather well. NCAA Football brought in $43.5 million in sports bets in the month of November, a slight uptick from the $42 million reported a month earlier.

Then, there was NCAA Basketball, which pulled in $29.8 million which was, compared to year-over-year results, a significant decline from November 2023 when sportsbooks pulled $37.7 million.

Moving on, the MMA brought in $3.2 million, and golf clocked in another $885,000 in wagers. Table tennis was actually an interesting outlier with $17.2 million generated on bets, a sport that picked up during the pandemic and has been a solid part of bettors’ repertoire.

Ice hockey delivered another $16.5 million for sports betting operators in terms of handle and soccer did well at $20.6 million. Tennis though did slightly worse than the October results in November, generating only $23.5 million, compared to $41.4 million in the earlier period mentioned.