Coloradans Bet Over $1 Billion on Sports in 2020

Even with sports being nearly completely shutdown in 2020, Colorado's new legalized sports betting was very popular with folks.

According to Denver 7, Colorado brought in over $3.4 million in taxes from over $1.1 billion wagered from May through December of 2020.

Imagine how much higher that number will be for 2021, with more sports happening and with sports betting being legal for the entire year, not just the last seven months of it.

What are people betting on? Take a look at the top categories:

Pro Football. Over $88 million in bets made.
Pro Basketball. Pro basketball saw less than half of Pro Football, but still saw over $42 million in bets.
College Basketball: $35 million in bets were made on 'College Ball.'
College Football: Not as much as basketball, only $14 million in bets.
Table Tennis: Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) 'Ping Pong' saw over $10 million in bets.
Ice Hockey: Ice hockey was the least wagered sport with only $485,000 in bets.

Tax revenues from sports betting are going to Colorado's Water Fund, which has a goal of obtaining $3 billion. Where, exactly, that money will be going is still fuzzy. You can read more about that from The Denver Post HERE.

From a news release obtained from Denver 7, the Colorado Department of Gaming sees the state's initial partial-year of sports betting optimistically:

Hitting the $1 billion mark is a milestone event for the department, leading us to believe that the trust and competition in the industry are leading bettors from the black market to the regulated market..
...we believe the legal marketplace is having and will continue to have a positive impact on Colorado.

Get more on Colorado's first year of legalized sports betting from Denver 7 HERE.