The Colorado Division of Gaming reported monthly sports betting figures for April 2024, showing that sports betting in Colorado brought in its lowest handle of the calendar year so far.
The $509.5 million handle is a 14.09% month-over-month decrease from March, but also represents a 21.95% increase from the total handle for April 2023. Despite the month-over-month decline in bets, Colorado sports betting has still brought in $5.2 billion in total wagers year to date, a 16.41% increase from the same period last year.
Wagering activity generated $1.9 million in taxes for state coffers, underperforming the $2.9 million from March and the $2.6 million from April 2023. Still, Colorado sportsbooks have driven a healthy $25.4 million in fiscal year taxes to date, accounting for a 10.85% increase from the FYTD taxes during this period last year.
Online sports betting dominates
It’s a good time to be one of the 20 online Colorado sports betting sites. The total online handle was $507.1 million in April, while retail sportsbooks in Colorado only brought in $2.4 million. April was actually the lowest monthly handle for retail sportsbooks, and also the lowest retail handle since August 2023.
Colorado online sportsbooks hauled in $32.2 million in gross gaming revenue from that half a billion dollar handle thanks to an 6.35% win percentage. Retail sportsbooks in Colorado actually lost $160,166.41 with their -6.77% hold.
Sport-by-sport comparisons
January was the best month for sportsbooks in Colorado overall, but March’s performance was neck and neck. Operators collected $596.7 million and $593.1 million in bets in those months, respectively, while February’s wagering saw just under $537 million in total bets.
Pro basketball is the dominant sport when it comes to betting handle. Pro football led the way from September through December, but hoops has garnered the most bets in every month of 2024. NFL playoffs and NCAA March Madness definitely propelled the big numbers in January and March, respectively, but April got a lot of plays from the baseball season heating up.
| Sport | April Handle |
|---|---|
| Basketball | $169.6 million |
| Baseball | $85.9 million |
| Tennis | $32.5 million |
| Hockey - Ice | $26.3 million |
| Soccer | $21.0 million |
| Table Tennis | $13.0 million |
| Golf | $11.7 million |
| NCAA Basketball | $8.5 million |
| MMA | $5.1 million |
| Football - Pro American | $2.3 million |
Interestingly, the Final Four helped draw $8.5 million for NCAA Basketball betting in April. Football fans must be giddy for kickoff in a few months, because more than $2 million was already bet on pro football,which likely comes with a lot of futures betting.
