Colorado sports betting handle reaches almost $4bn in 2021

Colorado’s sportsbooks combined a betting handle of $3.8bn for the year.

US.- Colorado sportsbooks reported $461.4m in wagers for December, taking the state’s handle for the year as a whole to $3.8bn. December’s figures represent a 63 per cent increase year-on-year (December 2020: $284.6m), but a 2.9 per cent decrease from November’s record figure of $475.4m. 

Most bets were placed online, with an online sports betting handle of $454.9m (98.6 per cent of all bets), down 3 per cent from November’s $469m but up 62.2 per cent from December 2020’s $280.4m. Players wagered $6.5m at retail locations.

Gross gaming revenue from sports betting for the last month of the year came to $24.7m, down 32.8 per cent from November’s $36.8mn, but 44.2 per cent higher compared to the same period in 2020 when GGR was $17.2m. 

The NFL accounted for $136.5m in wagers, making American football the most popular sport for betting. The NBA followed with $125.5m in bets. College basketball produced $27.5m; college football $24.5m; ice hockey $14.5m and soccer $12.7m.

Professional basketball from the NBA, however, drew the most bets for 2021, with $958m in wagers, while the NFL professional football took $689.2m for 2021.

Ian St. Clair, lead analyst for PlayColorado, said: “Football is popular in every legal US market. But a hallmark of the highest volume US markets is that the NBA, with its 82-game regular season and long postseason, tends to be a more consistent bet producer than the NFL. Colorado is clearly fitting into that pattern.”

See also: Colorado sports betting revenue sets new record in November