Bettors in Colorado Couldn’t Continue the Same Level of Success They Found During the Super Bowl as the House Found the Edge During March Madness
With another month in the books for the Colorado Department of Revenue, bettors in the Centennial State fared better, wagering on the Super Bowl compared to the NCAA Tournament this year.
How Did the Bookmakers Fare in March?
The public and the house have March circled on their calendars every year because the March Madness is destined to be hectic for the most part. This year was no surprise, because many favorites didn’t survive as long as they were expected to.
The Department reported $45.9 million in gross revenue for the month when factoring in both the online and retail markets. As the saying goes, the house always wins because the retail sector of the market ended in the black after taking a $3.8 million net loss the month prior.
In March, $191.9 million was wagered on basketball via mobile apps statewide, of which $92.3 million was wagered on the highly anticipated tournament. Since Colorado legalized sports betting in 2020, February 2023 was the best month ever for Colorado sports bettors in terms of total dollars won.
For the month of March, the bookmakers combined to register a hold rate of 9.3 percent, which is more than two points above the national average. Despite a decline of 2.2 percent from its year-over-year comparison of March 2022, Colorado’s overall sports betting handle barely missed the $500 million benchmark.
March’s $494.4 million mark marked a solid increase over February’s $425.1 million. For the month, the state collected $3.1 million in tax receipts, which noted a significant increase of 146.8 percent from the previous month.
Bettors Wagered a Majority on Basketball for March
Without a doubt, basketball was the center of attention in not only Colorado but the majority of jurisdictions that are members of the sports betting industry. With $175.9 million paid out on basketball wagers, the house earned a win rate of 9.3 percent.
In February, the sportsbook operators in the state posted a win rate of just 3.9 percent on basketball, but the tide tends to shift very quickly in the lucrative sports betting industry.
Tennis maintains its dominance, with $25.1 million in total wagers in March. Hockey was barely able to outpace tennis for the month in regard to revenue with $25.3 million in the category.
Soccer, baseball, and golf were the next group of sports to follow. The Colorado Rockies opened their season, but have been off to a terrible start, while the talented Denver Nuggets have a strong chance of bringing an NBA title home.
As usual, the public faces struggles in the parlay department. The public wagered $90.3 million on parlays or other combinations in March, winning only $75.5 million and giving the house a 13.2 percent win rate in the category.
Retail betting increased significantly in March compared to February, with $4.5 million wagered at these specific locations. At the end of the month, the brick-and-mortar locations registered a 9.6 percent hold rate.
