More sports and an extra operator in the market led Colorado sports betting handle and revenue to grow in their second month.
Sports betting handle hit $38.1 million in June, up 48.8% from May’s totals. Revenue also grew with June’s $3.5 million take, up 35.8% from the first month.
Hold slipped about a percentage point to 9.1% in June from 10% in May.
There’s no breakdown by operator in the monthly report, so we don’t know who the Colorado sports betting market leader is so far. There were seven operators in June:
- BetMGM
- BetMonarch
- BetRivers
- DraftKings Sportsbook
- FanDuel Sportsbook
- Fox Bet
- SBK (which Smarkets launched at the beginning of June)
Colorado sports betting faces real test next two months
While the first two months of sports betting in Colorado were a nice start, the industry will get a real sense of bettor appetite over the next two months.
Major League Baseball started its 60-game season July 23. That’ll give bettors more than a week to show just what the market can do with major sports on tap.
The National Basketball League restarts at the end of the month with eight games over two days. Along with a full month of MLB and NBA, August marks the beginning of the National Hockey League playoffs.
The market’s shift to bigger sports is already evident in the numbers from the first two months. In May, betting on soccer and golf combined for just shy of $3 million. But both saw significant growth in June with more major international soccer leagues back and an additional PGA Tour weekend. Soccer handle jumped 170% to $4.1 million while golf handle increased 141% to $3.4 million.
Table tennis, a betting favorite during the pandemic, also handle increase 38.8% to $9.1 million, by far the leader in single sports. But total market share was 24%, down from 25.7% in May.
Operators continue to join growing market
The Colorado sports betting market could see as many as 33 online sports betting operators at full maturity, not including two tribal casinos. For now, though, there are nine operators.
Circa Sports and BetWildwood operated by ISI both launched this month and more are coming.
Australia-born PlayUp plans to make its US debut in Colorado for NFL betting with the hopes of getting licensed at next month’s meeting, US CEO Dr. Laila Mintas told LSR. Fellow Aussie operator PointsBet is also expected to launch in Colorado shortly after its Illinois operations go live.
