Sports betting sharply rises in Colorado as businesses in Cripple Creek reap benefits
CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. (KRDO) -- The return to play for professional sports has resulted in a big win for Colorado, with promising figures showing more growth for sports betting in the state.
The Colorado Department of Revenue’s Division of Gaming released the reports a 117% increase in total handle from July to August 2020.
Those numbers are only expected to go up.
As of August 2020, the top sport to bet on in Colorado is basketball. That brought in about $40,000,000 last month.
Baseball brought in about $23,000,000, and ice hockey saw about $14,000,000 in bets.
Casino towns like Cripple Creek are reaping the benefits.
Lou Goldman, the owner of the “Little Store” in Cripple Creek, says the return of professional sports has helped his mom and pop shop out, too.
“We are actually up about 25-30% as of today," says Goldman. "For the month of July, we were up $5,432 alone, and every month proceeding that has gone up and up and up.”
After the pandemic forced them to close their doors, Goldman says they needed the help.
“For the store, we went totally backwards," says Goldman. "We were closed for three and a half months, but fortunately we were old school and had money in the bank to pay the mortgage payment,” Goldman said.
Not all businesses in the area have been as fortunate. Several in Cripple Creek are still closed temporarily.
The city is hopeful the Denver Nuggets game 5 in the Western Conference Playoffs may bring them some luck and much-needed business.
