Colorado sports betting declines for first time in February

The Super Bowl didn’t turn out to be all that super for Colorado sports wagers in February — the total amount bet on all sports declined from the previous month for the first time since sports betting was legalized last May.
The $266.5 million bet in February was down $60 million, or 18.5%, from January. Wagers on professional football were down $35 million during the same period, with Super Bowl 55 being the only game during the month. But interest in professional and college basketball remained strong, totaling nearly $120 million, or nearly 45% of the overall total; betting on pro basketball ranked as the top sport for the second consecutive month.
Even with the month-to-month drop, February’s total was the third highest in the 10 months sports wagering has been legal in Colorado and ranked seventh among states with legal sports betting. Since sports betting has been legal, nearly $1.8 billion has been wagered in Colorado. The gaming news site gambling.com said betting totals fell in nearly every state in February with a shorter month and the pro football season ending.
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Dan Hartman, director of the Colorado Division of Gaming, said Monday in a news release that with more retail betting and online wagering options and the March Madness (college basketball) championships, “we believe all of these factors will continue the growth trajectory that we see with sports betting in Colorado.”
The amount sportsbooks kept after paying winners fell 54.9% to $10.4 million after losing nearly $3.7 million on college basketball bets. That reduced the percentage kept by operators to less than 4% from 7.1% in January. The state’s 10% tax on sports wagering profits generated just $332,227, down 72.2% from January and the lowest monthly total since September. The tax funds Colorado water projects.
After basketball and pro football, table tennis remained popular with bettors, ranking fourth with $13 million in wagers during February and ahead of pro hockey, soccer, college football, mixed martial arts, tennis and golf. Parlays and combination bets totaled nearly $40 million, and all other sports after the top four combined to total $48.5 million.