March Madness fuels Colorado's second-best monthly sports betting handle at $505M

The Colorado Department of Revenue’s Division of Gaming has shared its sports betting report for the month of March. Gaming numbers in the Centennial State received an assist from March Madness: wagers on basketball reigned supreme in the month, helping total bets rebound and increase by 14.8% over February’s wagers.

Wagers on Professional Basketball and NCAA Basketball took the two top spots for the month, which saw a total handle of $505.6 million. A year-to-year comparison shows a notable 67.98% increase, up from a $301 million total handle delivered in March 2021.

“Because of the popularity of the NCAA tournament, sportsbooks count March as the last big spike in action before betting slows down for the summer,” Ken Pomponio, an analyst at PlayColorado.com, said in a statement. Overall, it was the state’s second $500 million-plus handle month.

Fiscal year total wagers for the current period -July 2021-March 2022- are $3.7 billion, an 85.96% increase in total wagers made in the same period 2020-2021. Taxes collected by the state in March 2022 from sports betting totaled $1.3 million, which represents a 317.21% increase over February.

In March, pro basketball placed in the top spot, with $218.4 million in total wagers, followed by NCAA Basketball with $96.9 million in handle. Ice Hockey came in third with just over $26 million, while the fourth spot went to Tennis, with $23.4 million; and Soccer stayed in the fifth spot with a little over $18 million.

“Colorado sportsbooks topped expectations, considering they got little help from local teams in the tournament after Colorado State was knocked out early and Colorado was left out altogether,” Pomponio added. “A big reason is that NBA betting remains enormously popular.” March was the largest monthly figure in a non-NFL month.

The month was short of January’s record-setting handle of $574 million, the most in state history. March did, however, register as the second-best since sportsbooks started accepting bets in May 2020, after voters approved legal sports gaming in November 2019.

March Madness with the assist! 🏀 Our March 2022 Sports Betting Proceeds Report is now available: https://t.co/xk7eaTRqPW pic.twitter.com/QNH0cPUagK

— CO Dept. of Revenue (@CO_Revenue) April 27, 2022

Colorado earns a flat-rate 10% tax from net sports betting proceeds. State tax from sports betting is redistributed to support Colorado’s schools as well as cities like Black Hawk, Cripple Creek, and Central City, where most of the state’s casinos are located. 

Last month, Colorado saw a new player enter the sports betting space. Swedish online gaming operator Betsson has now launched its mobile sportsbook in the Centennial State, its first in the US. The Betsafe app launched in late March, through a partnership with Dostal Alley Casino in Central City.

“The launch of our proprietary sportsbook in the U.S. is an important milestone,” said Pontus Lindwall, CEO and President of Betsson. “We are entering a new continent, expanding Betsson's global reach and further solidifying our B2B and B2C ambitions, thanks to many months of hard work by our product and technology teams to craft a product customized for the U.S. market.”