Is anyone who follows the gaming industry at all surprised that regulated sports betting is proving to be a big hit in, literally, every state where it’s been adopted? Every month, multiple US States report record-breaking handles and revenue. That trend appears to be in full effect in Colorado, the Centennial State, where January 2020 brought a new betting record along with the New Year.
According to a report on LegalSportsBetting.com, Colorado bettors dropped a respectable $326.9 million in wagers for January 2020. That number marks an astounding leap over the previous month, which only saw $284 million in wagers.
It didn’t matter much whether Colorado casinos and sportsbooks were open or closed to in-person visits, as 97 percent of Colorado sports betting action was done via mobile devices.
As if to show that no part of sports betting is really predictable, NFL football was not the top betting category for the Mile-High sports betting market. NBA wagering took to the top prize with $88.3 million in wagers. Astonishingly, professional American football came in second place with a mere $75 million. Rounding out the top three was college basketball with $39.8 million in wagers.
Regulated sports betting has only been legal in Colorado since May 2020 and didn’t get quite the launch that supporters though it would due to the pandemic. Despite the specter of COVID creeping around the world, Colorado residents still managed to wager slightly more than $1 billion during the first year of legal sports betting.
It will be interesting to see how these categories fare during a year when the local football team, the Denver Broncos, is doing well.