Centennial State’s Negative Net Sports Betting Revenue
Having negative sports betting revenue may not be a thing to surprise states, especially Colorado which reported a $1.9 million adjusted revenue loss in June 2022, a little higher compared to its $1.1 million revenue loss for February 2022.
The latest revenue loss is only the second highest since sports betting was legalized in Colorado in May 2020. It only trails behind the $3.4 revenue loss last August 2020.
In terms of Handle, it reported $313.2 million, 13% lower than the $360.3 million reported last May. Gross revenue totaled $6.8 million for June, this is the lowest reported gross revenue for the year but higher compared to the 2021 figures.
Moreover, despite having negative adjusted sports betting revenue, the Centennial State was still able to collect $286,280 tax revenue for the month. It may be the lost amount collected for 2022, but it was more than enough to reach the $6 million tax revenue for the first half of 2022.
Additionally, the reports also show that Colorado’s sportsbooks monthly loss of $7888 for basketball wagers which totals $44.1 million while ice hockey player winnings are up by $2 million compared to the $29.5 million wagers.
The Bright Side for Colorado
Even though the number is continuously dropping in the last few months, there are some positives to be gleaned from these latest numbers.
Online sports betting continues to dominate as it accounts for 99% of the total wagers. Sportsbooks also got nearly $2.5 million in tennis wagers.
The baseball handle in Colorado reached new heights this year, as operators collected nearly $106.5 million from the betting public and claimed an impressive $4.2 million in revenue.
Additionally, Colorado sports betting figures in 2022 have been far better than the comparable 2021 reports. One of the reasons is the almost 60% increase in terms of handle compared to 2021.
Another reason is the massive 30.6% increase in gross revenue despite having a lower win rate compared to 2021. Tax revenue is also up by $760K compared to 2021 because of the changing tax rates for retail and online revenue.
It may have reported a slightly lower adjusted revenue compared to 2021 but the figures show that Colorado sports betting is still growing despite experiencing a dropping season.