Colorado has joined the list of sports betting states to post record figures for October.
According to the latest figures from Colorado’s betting market, sportsbooks in the state processed a combined $491.5m in wagers for the month of October.
Colorado will now join the list of states with sports betting to have benefited from October’s five full Friday through Sunday weekends. The additional weekend gave sportsbooks plenty of time to take more bets on college and professional football.
October’s handle marks a new record for the state, breaking the previous record $408.3m set in September. The latest handle figure also represents a major year-on-year increase on the $210.7m wagered in October last year.
Once again almost all of the state’s handle came from online and mobile sportsbooks, which contributed $483.3m to the total handle figure for the month. Land-based sports betting made up the remaining $8.1m in bets.
After paying out $462.8m in winnings for the month, sportsbooks managed to generate a combined gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $28.6m, another record for the state.
October’s GGR was up from $22.7m posted in September and up from the $17.4m generated this time last year.
However, after accounting for promotional spending, net sports betting proceeds for the month amounted to $9.8m. Colorado sportsbooks paid a combined $1.2m in taxes to the state.
Football continues to dominate
It should come as no surprise that football was the most popular sport to bet on in the state of Colorado in October.
Bettors in the state of Colorado wagered a total of $171.2m on professional football events in October.
Basketball followed in a distant second place for the month, contributing just over $63.3m to the overall handle figure for the month. Meanwhile, NCAA football took the third spot with just under $52m in wagers.
Soccer accounted for $37.4m of the state’s handle while tennis brought in $14.1m in bets for the month.
Sportsbooks processed $13.2m in hockey bets, $10.3m in table tennis bets, $1.7m in MMA bets, and $1.3m in boxing wagers.
Parlay and combination wagers made up $89.7m of the state’s total handle figure, while sports in the other category brought in $21.4m in bets.
Sports betting in Colorado
The state of Colorado launched its legal sports betting market on 1 May 2020 and also marked the first day that operators could launch their online and mobile betting apps.
Now after a year of being operational, Colorado’s betting market is home to some of the biggest names in US sports betting including DraftKings, FanDuel, William Hill, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBet.
Where does Colorado sit in the national picture?
With the state of Colorado publishing its figures, a total of 17 US states have now published their figures for the month of October. Additionally, nearly every state with legal sports betting has posted record sports betting figures for the month. This is due to the fact that there were more weekends in October this year.
New Jersey holds the top spot for October with an all-time high handle of $1.3bn, while Nevada snatched second place earlier this week with $1.1bn in wagers.
Pennsylvania fell to third place with $776.3m in betting handle for the month, while Michigan sits in fourth place with $497.6m in wagers. Colorado’s $491.5m in wagers helped the state secure fifth place in October.
Meanwhile, Indiana bettors wagered a record $461.1m, while Tennessee sportsbooks took a record $375.3m for the month.
Delaware, Illinois, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wyoming have yet to publish their October figures.