Colorado Sports Betting

Colorado sports betting apps total 27 different options, giving bettors the biggest variety than anywhere else in the US. Colorado bettors can also wager in-person at one of 17 different retail sportsbook locations across the state.

The promotions and odds boosters surrounding the 2021-22 NFL Season will continue the Colorado sports betting market’s ongoing success. This is especially true as the 2021-22 NBA Season begins, not to mention the World Series in October. Plus, college football, college basketball, and the 2022 Super Bowl LVI will make for the hottest competition across the Colorado sportsbooks thus far.

The future is bright for Colorado sportsbooks – which benefits bettors in terms of competitive odds, lucrative promotions, and more.

Summary of the Best Colorado Sports Betting Apps

• DraftKings Sportsbook: Best for DFS Players and Gaming Today promo
• BetMGM: Best for MGM Fans
• Caesars Sportsbook: Best for Vegas Bettors
• BetRivers Sportsbook: Best for Deposit Bonus
• Betfred Colorado: Best for Colorado bettors
• FanDuel Colorado: Best for iOS & Android App
• PointsBet: Best for Risky Bettors
• MaximBet Colorado: Best for lifestyle bettors

Recent Colorado Sports Betting Updates

Colorado’s online sports betting industry isn’t a slow burn growing over time. Industry developments make headlines and generate what can be valuable hype. Here are some of them.  

• Colorado’s total sports handle for August 2021 was $211,918,185 – a 16.9% increase from July.
• Sports Illustrated To Join The Colorado Market- Sports Illustrated is partnering with 888 to launch a branded sportsbook. It launched in Colorado on September 7, 2021.
• Colorado Saw $180 In Handle In July 2021- Although handle and revenue were lower, that is expected over the summer months, after basketball ends, and while fans wait for football to kickoff.
• PointsBet, which has a headquarters in Denver, has a new Colorado partnership- On April 22, 2021, PointsBet announced it became the official sports betting partner of Korn Ferry Tour’s TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes.
• Wynn Resorts Launched A Colorado Sportsbook App- Wynn Resorts launched its WynnBet App in Colorado, the second state for the company to launch in. It’s yet another player in an industry that continues to grow. In July 2021, WynnBet announced a multi-year partnership with the Colorado Rockies.
• Sky Ute Sportsbook Is Launching An E-Sports-Only Sportsbook- Sky Ute Sportsbook secured partnerships with GameCo LLC and U.S. Bookmaking to create an e-sports-exclusive sportsbook. It’d be the first e-sports sportsbook in the United States, making Colorado’s only tribal sportsbook one of its most ambitious innovators.
• CU Boulder Signed A Deal With PointsBet- In September 2020, PointsBet signed a partnership with the University of Colorado at Boulder. It’s the first partnership of its kind in the United States–another first from Colorado’s sports betting industry.

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.

All Colorado Sportsbook Sites

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 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

According to statistics from the Colorado Department of Revenue, Colorado sports betting handle has remained fairly steady since September 2020, with sports bettors wagering $229,764,688 in June 2021 alone. Sports betting revenue peaked in January 2021 with $326,903,462 handled, a record that could easily be broken leading up to the 2022 Super Bowl LVI.

Interestingly, professional basketball brings in more wagers in Colorado than any other sport, followed closely by the NFL and NCAA men’s basketball during March Madness. The most ever wagered on a single sport in a single month in Colorado was on the NBA in March 2021, with over $107 million placed on the games.

Typically speaking, Colorado sports betting slots during the summer months. The total sports betting handle in July 2021 was $181,327,995, which is the lowest figure since August 2020. But with the resumption of the 2021-22 NFL Season combined with betting on the MLB Playoffs and 2021 World Series, the betting action is set to erupt. And that always means more promotions and odds boosters for Colorado sports bettors.

How Colorado Compares To Other States

Many states around Colorado haven’t legalized sports betting yet. (Does anyone think Kansas is going to make the leap into sports betting?) But there are other successful states that Colorado is outperforming in a few areas.

For example, Iowa legalized sports betting in May 2019–a year before Colorado sports betting went live. Iowans placed their first wagers August 15, 2019. They beat Colorado by nine months, giving them plenty of time to generate large amounts of revenue. But a peek at November 2020 numbers shows how quickly Colorado sports betting is growing:

Colorado Sports Betting Successes And Failures

Even though Colorado’s sports betting industry is younger than Iowa’s, it raked in $10 million more in gross revenue and almost $250,000 more in tax revenue. Iowan bettors had to create online sports betting accounts in person, while Coloradans didn’t. This allowed Colorado online sports betting to take off and leave Iowa behind. However, Iowa’s in-person requirement went away on January 1, 2021, so it may catch up to Colorado in the new year.

During the wave of sports betting legalization, Colorado has had some clear victories and some hard misses. Here are some of the things they did right and wrong.

Colorado Sports Betting Successes

Colorado took a big step in the right direction by allowing online sports betting and remote registration from the beginning.

About 98% of Colorado’s November 2020 wagers were made online. Not only did the online market have time to grow from the beginning, but bettors in any part of the state could create an account and bet on games they were interested in. Requiring bettors to drive to one of Colorado’s three gaming cities or to Sky Ute Casino would alienate many bettors. Colorado avoided one of Iowa’s mistakes and has stronger financials for it.

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, they come with more baggage than sports betting.

Putting a casino in every Coloradan’s hand would require controls similar to those imposed by sportsbooks. Tying each account to a single identity would give bettors the same self-exclusion options they have at sportsbooks. The boost in gaming revenue would have to be balanced against the impact on problem gamblers. But Colorado could pull it off if it strategized ahead of time.

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 seemed to go to work shortly after. In May 2019, the Colorado Legislature released Propositions CC and DD to be decided during the 2019 election. The bill passed in a 51/49 split. However, that doesn’t reflect Colorado’s usual 60/40 enthusiasm for gaming.

Taxation Of Gaming Sites

One of the greatest hurdles Colorado’s sports betting bill had to overcome was the language in its opening line. Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights requires any bill that introduces a new tax on anything to begin with the following words:

“Shall state taxes be increased by…”

The new tax didn’t go to Colorado consumers. It was the 10% levied on Colorado sportsbooks. But a glance at that first line in the ballot box proved consequential. Tax increases are unpopular, and the misconception that Colorado’s sports betting bill was a new tax for ordinary citizens almost killed it at the ballot box.

Colorado Amenable To Gaming Expansion

But Colorado’s true feelings about gambling are evident and gaming measures passed before and after Prop DD. In 1990, Coloradans voted to allow casinos in three cities in a 57/43 split. 30 years later, Coloradans voted to allow its casino cities to set their own game and bet limits in a 60/40 split. They’re amenable to gambling expansion, and sports betting was no exception.

Timeline Of Colorado Sports Betting

Colorado sports betting came swiftly after PASPA’s repeal. Here are the major sports betting milestones from its inception:

• May 14, 2018: The US Supreme Court rules PASPA unconstitutional. States are free to regulate sports betting.
• May 20, 2019: The Colorado Legislature releases Proposition DD, Colorado’s sports betting legalization bill. It will appear on 2019’s ballot.
• November 7, 2019: The Colorado Department of Revenue announces Proposition DD’s legalization. The Colorado Division of Gaming becomes the sports betting industry’s regulatory body.
• May 1, 2020: Colorado sports betting goes live with four sportsbooks: DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and BetRivers.
• September 8, 2020: The University of Colorado at Boulder secures a partnership with PointsBet. It’s the first time a Division I athletics program has partnered with a sportsbook.
• July 7, 2021: The Colorado Rockies announce a multi-year partnership with WynnBet Sportsbook. 
• August 2021: Caesars Sportsbook launches in Colorado after it acquired William Hill in April 2021.

Colorado Teams

Denver is home to several popular sports franchises. However, Colorado’s university teams have strong followings, too. Here’s everything bettors need to know about betting on Colorado’s slew of sports teams.

Colorado Professional Sports Teams

Most of Colorado’s professional sports teams are based in Denver. And the three leagues that drew the most betting handle are each based in Denver.

Denver Broncos

The most visible Colorado team is probably the Denver Broncos. In 2016, the Broncos won their third Super Bowl championship. It was also the year that Broncos star quarterback, Payton Manning, decided to retire.

The Broncos have been having a hard time since Payton Manning’s retirement. They’ve had a losing season every year since, including an abysmal 5-11 record for 2020-21.

But the 2021-22 NFL Season is a new year, and the Broncos odds of winning the 2022 Super Bowl 56 at the start of the season was +5,000 at BetMGM Sportsbook Colorado. The team needs to answer a ton of unanswered questions coming out of the preseason. But Mile High City is no stranger to upending mile-high stakes.

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets are Colorado’s professional basketball team, and they were having a rough go of it too – until the team ended the 2020-21 NBA Season with a 47-25 record to place third in the NBA Western Conference. Oh, and Nikola Jokić handily winning the regular season MVP award. Will he do it again? Will he carry the Denver Nuggets to the NBA Championship? Betting on the NBA MVP is already underway, and PointsBet Sportsbook Colorado, the official betting partner of the Nuggets, has the odds of the team going all the way at +2,000. It also lists the odds of Jokić repeating his regular season MVP award at +1400. Neither would be the worst futures bets.

Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies fill the baseball void in Denver, and anyone who’s been to Coors Field knows how popular they are. In July 2021, the Rockies entered a multi-year partnership with WynnBet Sportsbook.

At the time of writing this, the Rockies stood no chance of making it to the 2021 MLB Playoffs, much less winning the World Series. But they have a lot of room to improve in the offseason, and true Rockies fans know that a repeat of 2007 could be right around the corner.

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. NCAA football betting was almost 10% of all November 2020 betting, and we can expect similar figures for November 2021.

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 be affected by an athlete’s choices. It’d be easy for a financially vulnerable student to miss a field goal or two on purpose, then cash in on himself. Rather than solely relying on the schools, the Colorado Legislature shut that door to that behavior. Well, shut it as tight as it could, anyway.  

Other Sports To Bet On In Colorado

Interestingly, Colorado bettors have a special affinity for the following sports, which made up a good percentage of the total betting handle in July 2021:

• 7.7% on Soccer
• 6.6% on Tennis
• 4.8% on Table Tennis
• 2.9% on Golf

You read that right: table tennis makes up a significant portion of Colorado sports betting revenue outside of the mainstream sports. No wonder Colorado sportsbooks offer some of the biggest market depths in US sports betting.

But Coloradans can find far more obscure sports to bet on than ping-pong. DraftKings Sportsbook Colorado has a particularly wide range of sports and leagues to choose from. From Turkish Basketball to Herre Handbold Ligaen in Denmark, bettors can find sports and leagues wholly contained in Colorado’s ‘other’ category.

No matter a bettor’s taste, there’s something in Colorado’s market that will match their eclectic tastes.

Colorado 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.