More wagers expected for Colorado sports betting with start of NFL season

CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. (KRDO) -- Sports betting in Colorado is just starting to take off after COVID-19 delayed many of the state scheduled events across the nation. Now with the start of the NFL season, state and casino officials anticipate a massive influx of wagers.

"When football starts, that's when it really really kicks off," says Wildwood Casino General Managers Matt Andrighetti.

So far sports betting at the casino has been okay but Andrighetti is expecting football to bring in a lot more people.

"The stats that I had heard were 60 to 70 percent of all sports bets made throughout the year are made on football. So this is definitely the time," Andrighetti said.

Online sports betting in Colorado got off to a rocky start during the pandemic with few popular sports to wager on. Numbers from the Division of Gaming show that of the $26 million gambled in May, the top sport in question was table tennis. But with more sports returning, the numbers soon doubled with July bringing in nearly $60 million.

The Director for the Colorado Division of Gaming says they "have gone up about 50 percent each month since we started."

In total, about $123 million were wagered within just three months bringing in about $555,000 in tax revenue.