Legal sports betting in the Centennial State ended 2022 on a high note, despite a drop in handle compared to November.
Colorado's Department of Revenue announced the state's retail and online sports betting sites took in $518 million in wagers — a 6.2% decrease from November’s $552.6 million — with the state’s record being $573.7 record from January. December’s handle was a 12.3% jump from December 2021.
Although Colorado saw less money wagered, its tax bill stayed the same at $2.58 million. Taxwise, December 2022’s bill was 235% more than December 2021 ($770,561).
2022 in review
This is the second full year of Colorado sports betting and things are looking up. In 2021, not a single month eclipsed $500 million in bets. On the other hand, 2022 had five months with a handle higher than $500 million, including each of the last three.
Last year, Colorado’s total handle hit $5.17 billion, a 26% increase over the $3.83 billion in bets made in 2021.
Basketball remains king
Denver Nuggets' center Nikola Jokic is having an MVP-caliber season while the Broncos only won one game in December, and Coloradans noticed.
December saw increased betting in both sports, and basketball hit 28.5% of the state’s handle while football saw 26.5%. November had 25.7% dedicated to pro basketball and 24.5% to pro football.
College football, college basketball, and soccer rounded out November’s Top 5, and hockey sat at sixth with just 3.8% of the total handle.
December was also a good month for sportsbooks as their hold percentage spiked from 6.8% to 7.9%. Retail bettors were a bit luckier as operators only held 6.6% of their bets.
