Sports betting in Colorado continues on its trend of growth, as the state saw its second-highest month of total bets in October. January 2021 saw the highest amount of total bets since legalization in May 2020.
October 2022 brought in a total of $526,619,777 in bets placed, according to a press release from the Colorado Department of Revenue. It was a 17% increase from September 2022’s total of $450,232,597.
It was also a 7.2% increase from October 2021’s total of $491,453,342.
Breaking down Colorado sports betting October 2022 figures
Of the over $526 million in bets placed, here’s how that figure breaks down in online vs. retail gambling:
- Nearly $522 million came from online betting
- Around $4.83 million came from retail
The state collected a total of $2,330,705 in taxes — an 87% increase from October 2021. However, October 2022’s total is a 22.03% decrease from September 2022’s total of $2,989,342.
September’s total is a state record.
What sports brought in the most revenue?
American professional football led in total bets once again with a total of $171,637,593. Topping September 2022’s total, October saw over a 17.79% increase in bets placed.
Professional football brought in $145,707,490.26 in September 2022. The continued lackluster play of the Denver Broncos hasn’t had much of an impact on Colorado’s betting habits.
Basketball followed in a distant second with over $85 million in bets placed, while NCAA Football came in third with over $50 million. Baseball and tennis rounded out the top five with over $42 million and $24 million in bets placed, respectively
Percentage of bets by sport:
- Pro Football – 32.6%
- Parlays/Combinations – 17.5%
- Basketball – 16.3%
- NCAA Football – 9.6%
- Baseball – 8%
- Tennis – 4.6%
- Hockey – 3.2%
- Soccer – 3.1%
- Other – 2.8%
- Table Tennis – 1.6%
- MMA – 0.6%
- Golf – 0.2%
Baseball saw a massive decrease in bets from the previous month, going from over $83 million in September to just over $42 million in October. With the Colorado Rockies‘ elimination from playoff contention in September, there must not have been enough interest in baseball for Colorado bettors.
This, along with the start of the NBA season, may be attributed to the increase in bets placed on basketball. Bettors went from placing over $21 million in bets in September to the aforementioned $85 million.
Players were paid out just over $490 million in winnings. Over $485 million came from online betting, while around $4.56 million came from retail.
Players won over $163 million from professional football.
