It’s no secret that the booming regulated US sports betting industry is extremely cyclical. While Americans love wagering on sporting events all year round, American football season is when the bulk of the action takes place, as Colorado’s recently released gaming revenues for September, 2022 prove without a doubt.
According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, the total handle for the first full month of football season was $450,232,597. That number represents a whopping 55 percent leap over August’s $290,107,970 haul. September’s handle was also up 10.2 percent over September 2021’s $408,314,625 take.
Not surprisingly, professional football took the top spot in individual sporting categories with $145,707,490 worth of wagers placed. Professional baseball was second with $83,248,832 in wagers, while NCAA football took the third-place spot with $52,658,673 worth of bets. Tennis and basketball bets rounded out the top five categories with $33,070,571 and $21,600,442 each.
Table tennis, which briefly captured the attention of Coloradans during the dark days of lockdown, has apparently lost its charm in the Centennial State. The obscure Eastern European sport was not in the top five categories for the month.
Colorado players, like players across the country, fail to head the advice of sharp bettors to stick with single wagers and dropped piles of cash on multi-bet parlays. Parlay bets accounted for around $75 million of the total handle for the month.
All this action is good news for Colorado tax collectors. The state took home $2,989,342 in taxes from operators, their highest take to date. That number marks a 64 percent leap over August’s revenue take and an astounding 518.9 percent jump over September 2021’s paltry $483,048 revenue.
Colorado’s recent numbers speak volumes about the cyclical, almost monolithic, nature of the American sports betting market.