Colorado sports betting handle sees second-highest month on record with $526.6M in October

The Colorado Division of Gaming reported Friday the monthly sports betting figures corresponding to October 2022. The state recorded its second-highest month of total wagers with a handle of $526.6 million, a 17% increase from the prior month when the state saw a total of $450,2 million in bets.

Additionally, a year-over-year comparison shows a 7.2% increase in handle. Bets placed online amounted to $521.7 million, while retail operators took $4.8 million in wagers. January 2021 remains the month with the largest amount of total wagers, with $573,720,213 in bets.

The month was a great one for bettors as the 6.93% hold rate for operators was well below September's mark of 11.4% — a result of the mobile betting hold dropping from 11.4% to 6.9% and retail hold plummeting from 14.3% to 5.5%. In terms of gross gaming revenue, it reached $36.5 million during the month, a 28.9% decrease over the previous month. 

In October, professional football placed again in the top spot for the month with $171,6 million in total wagers, followed by basketball with $85,6 million in bets. Wagers on NCAA Football placed third with $550,4 million. The fourth spot went to baseball with $42,09 million, and tennis finished in the fifth slot with $24,4 million in total wagers. 

Taxes collected by the state in October from sports betting wagers totaled $2,330,705, representing a 22.03% decrease over the prior month, but an 87% increase from the same month in 2021.