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Colorado exceeds $2 billion in recovery during March
The state of Colorado has attained an impressive milestone of $2 billion in total bets placed during the month of March, as the March Madness saw the state passing February’s declines with a $300 million recovery. The state launched its market only 11 months ago.
PlayColorado analyst Ian St. Clair commented:
“With the NCAA Tournament, a return to growth is no surprise, but it is still good to see after a bit of a relatively disappointing month. Considering the circumstances Colorado launched under, at a time when major US sports were dormant, the state really has been one the US sports betting industry’s great success stories.”
According to the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Division of Gaming, the state’s online and land-based sportsbooks brought in $300 million worth of bets during the month. This is a 13% increase from the nearly $266 million in bets during the month before that, but is still less than the $326.9 million recorded in January. Bettors placed approximately $9.7 million in bets each day during March.
Through these bets, the gross revenue recorded during the month amounted to $20.4 million, which almost doubles the GGR recorded in February, which was $10.4 million. Sportsbooks in Colorado have amassed $2.1 billion in bets, merely 11 months after the sports betting market launch.
Analysts have warned that despite the success in amassing impressive revenue, the state’s tax revenue is still lacking as the bets placed in March brought in only $10.6 million in net sports betting proceeds and ended up with only $1.1 million in taxes.
Jessica Welman, PlayColorado.com analyst, said:
“Those promotional credits have been a nagging issue that has really kept the state from realising its full tax revenue potential. On the optimistic side, it could be just that it takes time to work through those credits from the heavy promotion in the state industry’s early days. But if tax revenue remains lacklustre, the issue may need to be fixed.”
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