Colorado sports betting can’t officially begin until May 1, but plenty of potential operators are lining up to get approved before then.
There were 51 applications submitted to Colorado’s gaming regulator as of Jan. 16. There’s no guarantee those applications will get approved at next month’s meeting, however.
But regulators are working to make sure that May 1 start date can actually be a go-live date for Colorado sports betting.
“The Division of Gaming is conducting prep work now to make sure all those qualified applicants who applied for a temporary license have one in place so they can begin on May 1, if they are ready,” according to a spokesperson.
Who applied for Colorado sports betting?
There were 28 master license applications, 10 operator licenses and 13 internet licenses submitted by January’s commission meeting.
In layman’s terms, it means 28 casinos, 10 retail sportsbooks and 13 online sportsbooks already submitted applications. The regulators did not reveal the list of applicants, but they will be publicly listed when ready for review.
PointsBet, which just opened a second US headquarters in Denver, confirmed that it submitted an application. But the company has no timeline on when it may get to the OK to go live, a spokesman said.
PointsBet will offer sports betting through Double Eagle Casino‘s license.
Other CO sports betting agreements
Even though there are more than 30 sports betting licenses available, there are only six confirmed, including PointsBet.
Full House Resorts, which has three licenses, will work with Smarkets, Churchill Downs‘ BetAmerica and Wynn Resorts.
Two more agreements were confirmed this week. Betfred will supply sports betting to Saratoga Casino while theScore Bet will supply Jacobs Entertainment.
Next steps for sports betting in Colorado
More Colorado sports betting stakeholder meetings are coming next Friday to discuss updated official sports betting regulations. The document includes the proposed changes from what was previously suggested.
One significant removal seems to be the requirement for sportsbooks to apply for each sport on which they want to accept bets. That section is now out after it was a popular topic of conversation at the last stakeholder meetings.
There still needs to be some clarification, however. For instance, the updated rules get rid of a section stating bets can only be placed in designated areas, which suggests kiosks could be located throughout a casino. Later, in the definition for the kiosks, the rules state they must be located in approved designated areas.
The last stakeholder meetings included representatives from more than 50 businesses. The five working groups from December will be paired down to just two groups this time around.
