Propelled by NBA and college basketball wagering, Colorado sports betting handle jumped to $494.4 million in March. The March betting handle was an increase of 16.3% over February ($425.1 million) but down 2.2% from March 2022 when the handle was over half a billion dollars ($505.6 million).
The numbers were especially impressive for net sports betting proceeds with March coming in at $35.4 million, up 195.8% from February (when it was almost $12 million) and an increase of 171.5% from March 2022 (just over $13 million).
Colorado Sports Betting, March vs. February
Mobile Wagering Dominates Again
Though Colorado has both retail and mobile options, online wagering at Colorado betting apps was by far the preferred way for customers to wager. Online betting accounted for $489.9 million of the total action in March, or about 99.1% of the statewide handle.
The March mobile sports betting handle of almost $490 million was an increase of about 16.2% over February ($421.6 million) and down 2.1% from March 2022 ($500.2 million).
Change in Tax Rules in Colorado
A change in how much gambling operators can deduct in bonuses and promotions from taxable proceeds has resulted in a sizable jump in tax collections from Colorado sportsbooks.
Newly imposed restrictions on such deductions – it’s now limited to 2.5% of an operators total sports wagering revenue -- meant that in March, total sports betting taxes were $3.1 million. That was up 146.8% from February ($1.26 million) and up 136.3% from March 2022 ($1.3 million).
The change in how much in promotions operators can deduct was the result of previous disappointing tax collections from sports wagering, especially compared to some other states.
As far as what was popular with gamblers in March, the top five sports generating handle were: Pro basketball, $193,007,439; college basketball, $94,312,535; hockey, $25,266,101; tennis $25,119,668, and soccer $19,422,032. A footnote is that the category, “other”, accounted for $18,351,817, and parlays attracted $90,329,588.
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