Coloradans vote on legalizing sports betting in a near-tie, "yes" 1 point ahead

Proposition DD, the measure to legalize sports betting in Colorado, pulled slightly ahead in ballot-counting overnight, although the margin is still slight.

With more than 1.3 million ballots counted (nearly 80 percent reporting), Prop DD is passing by 13,141 votes Wednesday morning, a nearly 1-point lead (50.48 percent to 49.52 percent).

Counting isn’t completed in some of the state’s most populous counties — Denver, El Paso, Jefferson, Pueblo and Boulder — according to the Secretary of State’s Office, but it’s unclear how many ballots remain out, as reported by The Denver Post. Only 58 of the state’s 64 counties have completely reported yet.

DD would legalize sports betting in Colorado and create a 10 percent tax on casinos’ house winnings that would largely benefit Colorado’s Water Plan. If approved, it would allow Colorado's 33 casinos to offer in-person and online wagering on professional, collegiate, motor and Olympic sports in May. The Colorado Division of Gaming would regulate the market.

The measure to allow Coloradans to place bets on the result of sporting events had little opposition, but the ballot language, which characterized it as a tax increase, may have put off some voters. The measure didn’t face an active opposition campaign, though some activists and political figures argued against it. Lawmakers had to put the tax question to voters under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

The state’s first modern foray into legalized gambling came in 1991, when casinos authorized by voters began opening in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. A bipartisan team of state lawmakers, Democratic House Majority Leader Alec Garnett and his Republican counterpart, Minority Leader Patrick Neville, channeled the proposed betting market through those towns in part because Colorado voters have signaled a reluctance to expand gambling to other places in the recent past.

Proposition DD would allow the state to collect up to $29 million a year from the new tax, though that amount isn’t expected to flow into state coffers until the betting market matures. Sportsbooks typically take a 5% to 7% cut of each bet, and the tax would be applied to what they pocket.

Initial tax revenue estimates start at roughly $10 million in the first full fiscal year, based on projections that Colorado licensees would take $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in bets, according to the measure’s fiscal impact statement. Analysts have projected the betting tax would bring in an average of $16 million in the first five years, with $14.9 million of that going toward the Colorado Water Plan.

Under Proposition DD, bets on professional sports would be allowed, as well as some bets on college sports. Betting on sanctioned eSports also would be allowed. But the measure wouldn’t allow bets on the in-game performance of college players, and it would bar any bets on high school sports.