Compared to its $505.6 million total in March, a 22% drop in sports betting was seen throughout April in the state of Colorado. Retail and online sportsbooks totaled $392.3 million for the month, according to data published by the Colorado Division of Gaming this past Friday.
Although a month-to-month decrease has been recognized, the total wagers for April 2022 still demonstrate a major increase in sports betting from the past year. In April 2021, the industry Totaled $301 million, showing a 60.5% increase for 2022.
Colorado was just shy of hitting a $7 billion threshold for all-time sports wagering since the betting industry was legalized within the state in May of 2020. It’s now expected to surpass this mark once wager totals from May are tallied up. As of right now, Colorado contains the 6th highest sports betting handle, just above New York sitting at $6.63 billion.
Disappointed, but not surprised
But this slump did not come completely unpredicted. With April often comes a slowdown in wagers, as it marks the end of both the football and college basketball seasons, and the conclusion of the opening rounds of NCAA tournaments. The drop in betting opportunities has tended to cause a downward turn in wagering over the years.
Professional basketball brought in the most wagers, with the books totaling $146.4 million. This was most likely due to the Denver Nuggets vs Golden State Warriors game in the first round of NBA playoffs.
The next highest sports to generate some action were baseball (at $69.9 million) and hockey (at around $26 million). The next sports to follow were tennis, soccer, and golf.
Revenue totals still up for the year
April’s gross revenue totaled $22.6 million. Compared to March’s $28.2 million in revenue, this shows a decrease of almost 20%. However, when set against figures from April 2021, revenue has risen nearly 29% from $17.6 million.
Tax revenue also dropped from March to April. The state collected $1.31 million in March, dropping to $1.23 million in April. During just this year, $4.4 million has been collected in taxes for the Centennial State. This is around a 67% increase compared to its tax revenue from the same period of sports betting in 2021.
Threats to the bets
Table tennis has shown to be interestingly popular throughout the state, generating $1.4 million for April in Colorado. In January, the sport brought in $7.6 million in wagers. However, because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both the Russian and Belarusian markets are unavailable for betting, and a decrease in bets has been seen over the past 2 months.
Although constant increases in the industry have been enjoyed and mostly expected since its legalization in Colorado, the threat of the United States’ current economy seems to loom over many in the industry. Inflation has caused the prices of gas, food, and energy to increase, leaving less spending room for many who enjoy wagering.
However, the industry hasn’t been affected quite yet, according to analyst Ken Popiano, of PlayColorado.com.
