When it comes to sports and betting on them, the summer drain is real.
There’s no better example of that than June in Colorado. That’s when bettors and fans alike saw both the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets seasons come to a crashing halt. In terms of the Avalanche, the ending came far sooner than just about anyone imagined when the season started.
As a result, the Colorado sports betting numbers took an expected hit.
June produced a combined $229.8 million in wagers, according to numbers released by the Colorado Division of Gaming on Tuesday. The June handle is a 7.7% decline from the $249 million in May.
However, when you dive into the revenue numbers, it was actually a really strong month for sports betting in Colorado.
The other aspect that shines through? Colorado still digs NBA betting.
Colorado sports betting by the numbers in June
In the month of June, sportsbooks in Colorado generated a whopping $19.7 million in gross gaming revenue. That’s the third-best revenue number in history. That’s also a 30.2% rise from the $15.2 million in May.
The net betting proceeds also produced $11.7 million in June. That’s a significant increase from the $5.9 million in May.
The state also collected $1.2 million in state taxes for the month, the second-highest ever for the state. In May, the state only got $635,641 in state taxes.
And online is where people continue to place their bets. In June, $227 million of the total handle came from online wagers. Only $2.7 million came from retail sportsbooks.
Top sports wagered on
Despite the fact the Nuggets were eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in the middle of the month, the NBA was by far the most-wagered on sport.
This is now the sixth-straight month the NBA has been the driver for the market. For June, it took $74.9 million in bets. That is down from the $86.9 million in May.
MLB betting in Colorado took the second spot, getting $54.6 million, up from the $49.1 million in May.
What isn’t a surprise is the fact NHL betting took a dive after the Avs were eliminated by the Las Vegas Golden Knights on June 10. That forced hockey betting to drop to fifth with $10.7 million in wagers. That was topped by soccer betting (thanks to the Euro 2020) and tennis betting.
And, of course, there’s old reliable Colorado table tennis betting. While it wasn’t in the top five, it was sixth above golf and MMA with $8.7 million in wagers.
Top 5 betting sports
- Basketball $74.9 million
- Baseball $54.6 million
- Soccer $12.8 million
- Tennis $12.3 million
- Hockey $10.7 million
| Wagers by sport | Total Handle | Online Handle | Retail Handle | Revenue (GGR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro Basketball | $74,884,932 | $73,725,307 | $1,159,625 | $4,010,908 |
| Baseball | $54,554,496 | $53,771,166 | $783,330 | $1,884,821 |
| Soccer | $12,757,625 | $12,704,742 | $52,883 | $1,342,172 |
| Tennis | $12,283,525 | $12,274,232 | $9,293 | $852,557 |
| Hockey | $10,679,259 | $10,539,545 | $139,714 | $2,569,716 |
| Table Tennis | $8,678,789 | $8,673,902 | $4,887 | $703,529 |
| Golf | $5,921,356 | $5,907,841 | $13,515 | $864,694 |
| MMA | $2,302,772 | $2,295,981 | $6,791 | $308,356 |
| Motorsports | $499,313 | $497,224 | $2,089 | $41,222 |
| Pro Football | $306,435 | $290,953 | $15,482 | $276,110 |
| Other | $12,977,526 | $12,845,734 | $131,792 | $1,479,769 |
| Parlay | $33,918,660 | $33,547,629 | $371,031 | $5,397,102 |
| Total | $229,764,688 | $227,074,256 | $2,690,432 | $19,730,956 |
