When lawmakers were debating the viability of regulated sports betting in the United States, the one thing everyone agreed on was that demand would be strong. In Colorado, where sports betting has been legal for exactly two months, players are proving that demand is strong even if the offerings are really outside-of-the-box. To wit, professional ping pong wagering has been the most bet on sport in the Centennial State for two months in a row.
According to a recent report from the Denver Post, Colorado players wagers $9.1 million on ping pong over the course of June, 2020. That’s almost a quarter of all the legal wagers placed in the state and a solid chunk of the $38.1 million that regulated sportsbooks took in that month. That $38.1 million, by the way, represents an astonishing 50 percent leap over the previous month’s take.
Suffice to say, the paucity of professional sports and the crazy nature of life under quarantine are the likely drivers behind Colorado’s newfound interest in ping pong. But ping pong was not the only sports Colorado residents were wagering on. International soccer came in second with $4.1 million in wagers, while golf clocked in $3.4 million in bets.
Max Bichsel, vice president of U.S. business for Gambling.com Group told the Denver Post that Colorado’s ping pong obsession was likely temporary, “While table tennis was the most bet on sport for the second consecutive month in Colorado, expect baseball and basketball to begin to surge with the return of MLB and NBA, assuming games can continue into the summer.”
That said, if the numbers Colorado bookies are pulling in during quarantine are any indication, Colorado could become one of America’s regulated sports betting capitols.