Colorado sportsbooks were not immune to the summer slowdown seen across the US, as handle dipped 21% to $181.3 million in July.
They were, however, helped by a healthy 8.6% hold rate. Revenue ticked up 4% month-on-month to $15.7 million.
The drop in handle expected at this point. None of the 16 US sports betting jurisdictions to report July figures reported an increase in handle.
A few did see revenue uplifts thanks to strong hold on MLB and UFC.
Bonus wars on pause for July
Operators dished out around $6 million in bonuses; equivalent to 38% of GGR.
That led to net gaming revenue of $9.6 million and taxes of just under $1 million.
In fact, bonuses were down around 50% month-on-month, as operators kept their powder relatively dry for a big NFL betting push in August and September.
Bonus battle for CO sportsbooks
As football returns, so does the promo spending.
The busy customer acquisition period means Colorado tax revenue will likely be cut down over the next few months.
Consider last year’s promotional spending:
- $7.6 million in September
- $7.8 million in October
- $9.4 million in November
- $11.5 million in December
Those deductions led to just $2.2 million in tax revenue combined for the four months.
Baseball leads the way for CO sportsbooks
As expected, baseball accounted for the lion’s share of action for CO sportsbooks, with a 34% share of July handle.
That was followed by:
- Basketball: 15%
- Soccer: 7.7%
- Tennis: 6.6%
- Table tennis: 4.8%
- Golf: 2.9%
- MMA: 2.4%
- Summer athletics (Olympics): 1.6%
Parlays made up 17% of handle.
Explaining Colorado love affair with table tennis
Colorado bettors wagered $8.7 million on table tennis in July, nearly identical to June. However, operator sources suggested there is no special love affair between Colorado and table tennis.
Rather, the sport is a relatively popular betting medium across the US thanks to its availability, high velocity and casino-style nature.
Colorado is the only state that breaks out table tennis handle specifically.
Football is coming
Moving forward, July marks the calm before the storm as handle and revenue look set to rebound in August.
NFL preseason returned along with Week 0 of college football.
The NFL preseason opener attracted 20% more bettors than the the most heavily bet MLB game that night, per ESPN.
