Colorado’s sports betting handle lowest in 8 months, but sportsbooks win in June

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ast month, sports wagering in Colorado perceived a fall to an eight-month low as the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche were eliminated from the playoffs, according to a report from The Colorado Division of Gaming Tuesday. 

The Avalanche were eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights on June 11, and the Nugget’s playoff run ended two days later. The $229.8 million wagered in June was the lowest since bets totaled $210.7 million in October 2020. 

Last month’s total was six times the $38.1 million bet in June 2020, the second month sports wagering was legal. However, it fell 7.7% from May’s total. 

The two of the past three months has seen a fall in the monthly total. Wagers for the first half of the year totaled $1.62 billion. 

While professional basketball still was the top sport for bettors for the sixth consecutive month, the $74.9 million handle in June was down $12 million from May’s total. Betting on professional hockey last month also fell nearly $5 million from the previous month.

Baseball increased from May to June by more than $5 million, to a sum of $54.6 million and wagers on tennis rose by $4 million to $12.3 million. However, those figures were not enough to offset the declines in pro basketball and hockey. 

In Colorado, one of the sports that bettors wager on the most is table tennis. Since its legalization in May 2020, it fell by $1.5 million to $8.7 million from May to June.  

In spite of the drop in betting, Colorado sportsbook generated nearly $20 million in revenue in June, up by 30.2% compared to May. This happened because bettors placed fewer winning wagers, which allowed casinos to keep 8.6% of the amount bet, the highest win percentage for sportsbooks since July 2020. 

This was clearer in wagers related to tennis and golf. 

According to The Gazette, Jessica Welman, industry analyst, reflected on this phenomenon. “Tennis and golf don’t generate the same kind of interest as major team sports, obviously but the higher win percentages help sportsbooks offset the offseason dip in betting volume. With the Olympics here and major golf and tennis tournaments dotting the July calendar, Colorado sportsbooks will get a bit of a boost”.

The taxes paid by sportsbooks nearly doubled to $1.19 million, the most since the NFL playoffs helped push sports betting tax payments to $1.2 million in January. These tax fund Colorado water projects.