Colorado Sports Betting

Colorado sports betting has proved to be a steady market. Colorado sports betting apps total 27 different options, giving bettors the biggest variety of anywhere else in the US. Colorado bettors can also wager in person at one of 17 different retail sportsbook locations across the state.

As a result, revenue numbers are extremely strong. The Colorado Division of Gaming announced that as of May 2022, Colorado cleared the $7 billion mark in wagers place since legalization in May 2020. Total wagers for the current fiscal year, July 2021-May 2022, total $4,502,380,838, a 79.4% increase in the total wagers made in the same period 2020-2021.

The future is bright for Colorado sportsbooks – which benefits bettors in terms of competitive odds, lucrative promotions, and more. Looking for the best sports betting app? Read on to discover our top choices in Colorado. 

Editors’ Choice For Best Sports Betting Apps In Colorado August 2022

• DraftKings Sportsbook: Best for overall app and offer
• Caesars Sportsbook: Best for high rollers
• BetMGM: Best for Vegas bettors
• BetRivers Sportsbook: Best for Deposit Bonus
• Betfred Colorado: Best for Colorado bettors
• MaximBet Colorado: Best for local team betting
• FanDuel Colorado: Best sports + DFS combination
• Sports Illustrated Sportsbook: Best for fans of SI Magazine

Colorado’s 8 Best Sports Betting Apps & Sites

While Colorado has many sportsbooks, it has a clear top eight that are influential in Colorado and beyond. Here’s what bettors need to know about Colorado’s top sportsbook brands.

Best Colorado Sportsbook Bonuses

Full List of Colorado Online Sportsbooks

• DraftKings: Best for Overall App and Offer
• Caesars Sportsbook: Best for High Rollers
• BetMGM: Best for Vegas Bettors
• BetRivers: Best for Deposit Bonus
• Betfred Sports: Best for Colorado Bettors
• MaximBet: Best for Local Team Betting
• FanDuel: Best Sports + DFS Combination
• Sports Illustrated (SI) Sportsbook: Best for Fans of SI Magazine
• PointsBet
• FOX Bet
• Barstool Sportsbook
• Bally Bet
• TwinSpires
• Circa Sports
• Betway
• BetMonarch
• SBK
• Sky Ute Sportsbook
• BetWildwood
• Elite Sportsbook
• Play Maverick
• Superbook
• PlayUp
• Tipico Sportsbook
• WynnBET Sportsbook
• Betsafe

Coming Soon

Even though Colorado already boasts more online sports betting sites than any other state, the market is still expanding.  ClutchBet Sportsbook is due to launch very soon, likely by the end of the summer.

Top Retail Sportsbooks in Colorado

Colorado Legal Sportsbooks

Legal sportsbooks are safer than illegal or unlicensed sportsbooks. Legal platforms are subject to strict industry controls that unlicensed sportsbooks are free to ignore.

Colorado licensed sportsbooks are required to keep a cash reserve to ensure they can pay their bettors. Unlicensed sportsbooks–and small-time bookies–don’t have to worry about effective operations. If they go under, bettors are denied their winnings, and bettors have no legal recourse against them. Colorado licensed sportsbooks offer a security net that’s absent from illegal operations.

But remember, sportsbook winnings are taxable. Bettors report gambling winnings on their tax returns. Sportsbooks also send the IRS a W-2 that details winnings above $600 and wins on 300-1 odds. There’s no way of getting out of reporting sportsbook winnings to the IRS.

Colorado Sports Betting Revenue

Colorado sports betting produced a total handle of $360,325,438 for May 2022, an 8.2% decrease from the total handle of the prior month, April 2022, of $392,311,737, according to the Colorado Division of Gaming.

How Colorado Compares To Other States

Many states around Colorado haven’t legalized sports betting yet. But there are other successful states that Colorado is outperforming.

For example, Michigan retail sports betting launched March 2020, only to be shut down within days when the pandemic broke out. Online sports betting didn’t launch in Michigan until January 2021. Even though it had a late start, Michigan has become one of the United State’s premier igaming markets. A peek at preliminary revenue shows how sportsbooks succeed in engaging Colorado bettors:

Colorado Sports Betting Successes And Failures

Even though Colorado has fewer potential sports bettors than Michigan, it raked in almost as must betting handle and more tax revenue. Colorado has four major sports franchises in Denver, which makes it a hotbed for sports betting. It also has a slightly higher tax rate than Michigan, which is allowing Colorado to generate more tax revenue from sports betting than Michigan. However, Michigan’s final revenue numbers will tell the full story.

Colorado Sports Betting Successes

Colorado took a big step in the right direction by allowing online sports betting and remote registration from the beginning. YTD in 2021, 98.4% of all bets in Colorado were made online. The trend held steady through all of last year when you consider about 98% of Colorado’s November 2020 wagers were made online.  Colorado also launched retail and mobile sports betting simultaneously. So, it avoided the setback that Michigan sports betting experienced when retail sports betting launched the same week as the COVID-19 shutdowns.

Colorado Online Gambling Improvements

Colorado seems to have nailed its sports betting launch. The next step in expanding online gaming would likely be legalizing online casinos. However, online casinos come with more baggage than sports betting.

The boost in gaming revenue would have to be balanced against the impact on problem gamblers. But Colorado could pull it off if it strategizes ahead of time. However, that will mean investing in problem gambling treatment. Colorado only allocated $100,000 toward problem gambling treatment and $30,000 toward the national problem gambling helpline. Colorado only has seven licensed problem gambling counselors for an igaming industry that has grown into a $3.2 billion industry. There’s no nice word for a failure that easily avoidable.

Colorado’s Sports Betting Legalization Effort

Sports betting came easily to Colorado. Once the US Supreme Court ruled PASPA unconstitutional in 2018, the Colorado Legislature went to work. In May 2019, it released Proposition DD to be decided during the 2019 election. Proposition DD passed in a 51/49 split. However, that doesn’t reflect Colorado’s usual 60/40 enthusiasm for gaming. Proposition DD passed by a razor-thin margin because it looked too much like a tax bill.    

Colorado Professional Sports Teams

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are Colorado’s most visible team. In 2016, the Broncos won their third Super Bowl championship. However, Broncos star quarterback, Peyton Manning, retired after that game.

The Broncos have been having a hard time since Manning’s retirement. They’ve had a losing season every year since, including a pedestrian 7-10 record during the 2021-22 season. They hope that the addition of Russel Wilson will help them break through in a tough AFC West.

Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are Colorado’s professional basketball team and were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Golden State Warriors.

Denver’s star player, Nikola Jokić, who won the regular-season MVP award in 2021, is the betting favorite at +400 according to PointsBet Colorado to take the honor again when the 2022 MVP is announced in late June.

Colorado Rockies

Anyone who’s been to Coors Field knows how popular the Colorado Rockies are. In July 2021, the Rockies entered a multi-year partnership with WynnBet Sportsbook, cementing a relationship with a multi-state sportsbook. 

The Rockies have had their ups and downs, but the past decade has featured more downs. Their fans hope they can turn it around soon.

Colorado Avalanche

Coloradans love their hockey, and the Avalanche consistently give those NHL fans a hometown reason to cheer. The Avs won the coveted Stanley Cup in their very first season, ’95-’96. The won it all again in 2001 and earned their third championship in franchise history when they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.

The Avs have been particularly strong the past several seasons and with stars like Nathan MacKinnon, 2021-22 Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar, and Nazem Kadri, they seem poised for greatness for years to come.

Other Professional Teams

For now, the American sports landscape continues to be dominated by the 4 main leagues represented above. However, most sportsbooks feature lines on other professional leagues as well.  In Colorado, this would include teams such as the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer and the Colarado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League.

Colorado College Sports Teams

There are two major college teams in Colorado, and they make one fierce rivalry. The University of Colorado at Boulder has a long rivalry with Colorado State University in Fort Collins. (Anyone lucky enough to attend the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown knows that.) Both schools have popular football teams, too. 

Coloradans can wager on college teams. However, they cannot place prop bets on college games. Colorado’s sports betting bill attempted to protect college game integrity by disallowing wagers that could affect an athlete’s choices. 

Other Sports To Bet On In Colorado

Colorado bettors can bet on many sports besides professional and college team sports. Some of these other sports outside the mainstream actually comprise fairly large percentages of Colorado’s total betting handle in April 2022:

• 5.6% on Tennis
• 4% on Soccer
• 2.6% on Golf

How To Place A Bet In Colorado

Placing a bet in Colorado may be intimidating for new bettors. But it’s made up of a few straightforward steps. Here’s how bettors can make their first bets.

How To Choose A Colorado Sportsbook

There are a few ways to pick a sportsbook. Bettors can find the best odds, best reward programs, or the best welcome bonuses to cash in on. Bettors should decide what’s most important, then pick a sportsbook that matches their priorities.

You can also join as many online sportsbooks in Colorado. This is a relatively easy strategy for shopping around for the best odds to ensure the highest profit margins.

How To Create A Sportsbook Account

Registering for a sportsbook is mostly like registering for any other website, but with more personal information. Bettors must provide their social security numbers to complete their registration. It ensures sportsbooks match payments to individual identities–and don’t pay criminals or excluded bettors.

How To Verify Your Location

Most Colorado sportsbooks do this automatically. Some require bettors to download a geolocation plugin. That keeps sportsbooks from letting out-of-state bettors use their online sportsbooks.

How To Deposit

Find the deposit option near the account section of any sportsbook–often in the top right corner of the screen. Select the desired deposit method, enter the amount, then place your first wager.

How To Place A Bet

Find a line and select the part of the line you want to bet on. Select everything you want to be included in your bet slip, then decide how much you want to wager. Sportsbooks display potential winnings, so bettors don’t have to worry about the math. Just hit submit, and keep your fingers crossed for your teams.

Colorado Online Sports Betting FAQs

More Resources On Colorado Sports Betting

If you’re curious about the details of Colorado’s sports betting industry, here are some additional resources:

• Supreme Court opinion on PASPA repeal: Why the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of New Jersey and allowed each state to regulate sports betting.  
• Colorado Division of Gaming Sports Betting Rules: These are the rules that Colorado sportsbooks must abide by to earn and keep their sports betting licenses.
• House Bill 19-1327: Better known as Proposition DD, this is the House Bill that Coloradans voted to legalize in the 2019 election.