The Colorado sports betting numbers for August are finally in, and the state saw a nice jump in the handle, but the revenue went the other direction. Colorado saw a relatively limited amount of sports betting over the Summer months, but now that football is back in action, things are turning around.
Last month, the total sports betting handle was $211.9 million, which was a jump of nearly 17 percent from July. This also represented an increase of more than 60 percent from the total handle during August 2020.
Nearly all of the sports betting in Colorado last month was done online, as mobile betting accounted for 98.3 percent of the total. Retail sportsbooks continue to pop up in Colorado, but bettors continue to prefer to wager online.
The gross gaming revenue actually dipped for August, but it was only a decrease of 2.7 percent. Colorado sportsbooks still brought in $15.2 million from sports betting, and that is another number that should continue to climb in the remainder of 2021.
Total tax revenue for the month was just over $726,000 after that total neared 1 million in July. A majority of the tax revenue brought in from sports betting goes to fund the Colorado Water Plan.
Colorado has now gone over the $2 billion mark in total sports betting handle in 2021, and the state has seen more than $3.2 billion in wagers since May 2020. The total tax dollar amount brought in from sports betting since May 2020 is $10.2 million.
Colorado continues to be a target for some of the top online sportsbook operators in the world, and this market will only continue to grow.
Baseball Still King in August
Even though the NFL Preseason kicked off during August, it was baseball that was still the most popular sport to wager on in the state of Colorado. The total sports betting handle that came from baseball was just shy of $70 million, which easily set the tone.
The NFL did bring in over $13.5 million in wagers for August, and it should claim the top spot beginning in September. The reign of the NFL will last all the way through February when the Super Bowl is held, and the fact that the Denver Broncos are off to a 3-0 start will help as well.
Basketball was fifth on the list with $10.6 million in wagers for August, but it should jump up to the number two spot when the NBA season begins. Tennis and soccer were ahead of basketball for August, but all three of these sports brought in around $10 million in the handle.
Table tennis fell out of the top five in Colorado, but the sport still brought in over $8 million in bets. Bettors in the state of Colorado have been betting on table tennis since May 2020, and the trend has not slowed down since that time.