The Colorado General Assembly approved statewide sports betting in May 2019, but the vote essentially moved the final decision to voters in November. A voter-approved constitutional amendment requires that any legislative vote to raise taxes go to the ballot for approval. HB 1327 was signed by Gov. Jared Polis, approved by voters, and became law. It includes the following core tenets: The state licenses sportsbooks that partner with casinos in the state. Betting can take place both online and in physical sportsbooks. The state taxes Colorado sportsbooks at a rate of 10%.
State of Colorado Sports Betting Overview
Signing up at a Colorado online sports betting site is pretty easy. Once you register for an account, you can deposit money and be ready to go. The only thing to add is that you might have to provide additional documentation to withdraw funds. Be aware that verifying a joint bank account likely requires ID from everyone on the account.
With so many online sportsbooks in Colorado, competition is fierce to attract bettors. Books offer bonuses and promotions to attract new customers and keep them returning. There are some of the best sports betting promotions and bonuses available to Colorado sports bettors at the moment and the codes to access them.
Deposit bonuses: Sportsbooks will match all or a portion of your deposit. You may also see these appear as match bonuses.
First bet bonuses: You must place a wager that meets the sportsbook’s conditions. If you win, you collect the profit from your win and don’t get a bonus. If you lose, the sports betting site will issue you site credits or a bonus bet equivalent to a percentage of your lost bet.
Odds boosts: Odds boosts are when a sportsbook bumps the odds on a bet, usually between 15% and 35%, to attract more wagers. Odds boosts often have their tab on an app and may not be visible on the main promotions page.
Loyalty programs: Many sportsbooks offer company-wide loyalty programs, but what they offer will change from book to book. These programs will give you points as you wager, which can be exchanged for various perks.
Colorado legalized sports betting in November 2019. Legalization required voter approval via referendum due to Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Colorado sports betting launched in both online and retail formats in May 2020. All online sportsbooks must be partnered with casinos located in Colorado. You must be 21 or older to bet on sports in the state. Principal actors in sports — players, referees, coaches, etc. — cannot legally bet on their sports. You can bet on table tennis and cornhole, but not the Oscars or other awards events. Colorado does not permit esports betting, nor does it allow betting on high school sports or any event where most participants are younger than 18. Colorado sports betting law allows up to 30 online sportsbooks in the state. Colorado sportsbooks booked more than $5 billion in wagers in their first 18 months.
State of Colorado Sports Betting Timeline
Colorado’s sports betting history is relatively short, mainly because the state legalized the activity and went live within a year. In the first year of legal betting, Colorado saw 15 online sportsbooks start taking wagers. Here is a timeline of how things have grown:
In 2019, Colorado began its push to legalize sports betting at the behest of Rep. Alec Garnett, the House majority leader. Garnett produced a bill in 2019 that narrowly passed both chambers of the Colorado General Assembly on the last day of the session. Due to Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, the question of sports betting then has to go before the voters before it can become law. Although the vote on Proposition DD is only 20,000 votes apart, the people of Colorado decided to allow the state’s casinos to offer online and retail sports betting.
In 2020, Colorado sports betting started in earnest in May 2020. Both online and retail books open their doors for business, although the COVID-19 pandemic creates an extra set of challenges for in-person wagering. However, the online expansion continues unabated, and 15 online books will be launched by the end of the year.
In 2021, Sports betting continued to expand in its first full year of being legal in the state. The number of active sportsbooks nearly doubled. By the time 2022 rolls around, there will be 26 online sportsbooks doing business in Colorado, including one of the few truly tribal options, Sky Ute. December 2021’s numbers push the total amount of legal wagering in the state over the $5 billion mark for roughly 20 months of activity.
In 2022, The number of sportsbooks in the state continues to fluctuate in 2022 as MaximBet and theScore Bet exit the state.
In 2023, The list of live Colorado sportsbooks continues to shrink as Sky Ute Sportsbook and Maverick Sports leave the state, and Betfred absorbs Elite Sportsbook. Bally Bet also pauses operations for several months.