COLORADO SPORTS BETTING

Sports and Market Selection

All top-rated Colorado sportsbooks offer a wide range of sports and markets. The main focus is on American major leagues such as the NFL and NBA Bets, but you can also find popular markets for international and niche sports. Many examples can be found in our Caesars Sportsbook review.

Bonuses, Promotions, and Special Offers

There’s no shortage of opportunities to extend your bankroll while betting on top Colorado sportsbooks. Each site will welcome you with a lucrative intro promo, after which you can find a wide range of ongoing deals, including reload bonuses, free bets, odds boosts, and promotions relating to specific events, especially those including Colorado-based pro teams.

Apart from looking at the base value of these bonuses, we’ve also reviewed the rules surrounding their use, ensuring that each offer has reasonable rollover terms, validity period, and other restrictions.

Quality of Odds

If you are serious about making a profit, you should always search for the best possible odds and lines. Luckily, there are plenty of Colorado sportsbooks out there, so you can easily compare their prices and find a good opportunity for making a value bet.

Mobile Betting

Not only are you not required to bet in person in Colorado, but you can also take your betting practices wherever you go. All the best CO sports betting operators offer proprietary mobile apps that you can easily download and install on your iOS and Android devices. Alternatively, you can bet on the sportsbooks’ mobile-browser sites.

Banking Options

Banking is another crucial aspect of choosing a betting site in Colorado. Sportsbooks can differ in terms of accepted payment methods for deposits and withdrawals, payment limits associated with each method, transaction times, and potential service charges. Before committing to a sportsbook, make sure it accepts the payment method you’re most comfortable using.

Customer Care

Answering questions and solving players’ issues is the backbone of every good sports betting site. The best CO sportsbooks have a dedicated support team that works around the clock to help players make bets, unlock bonuses, conduct payments, and manage their accounts. We also value when a betting site has an efficient help page with FAQs.

Brief History of Gambling in Colorado

Gambling in Colorado has a long history, as the state’s major towns were gambling centers in the Old West throughout the 19th century. However, the beginning of the 20th century and the changes in American laws resulted in the ban of all gambling activities.

In the years following the Second World War, regulations started to loosen up, beginning with the authorization of pari-mutuel wagering on horse and greyhound racing in 1948. Charitable gambling and bingo were allowed in 1958, and the Colorado Lottery was introduced in 1982. In 1990, Colorado legalized casino gambling.

Following in the steps of other states, Governor John Hickenlooper banned greyhound racing in 2014, although no races have been organized since 2008.

Sports Betting in Colorado: Timeline

The abolishment of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018 paved the way for the legalization of sports betting across the United States. Each state was allowed to decide whether they wanted to legalize sports betting inside their borders, and the plans for legalization in Colorado were immediate.

Apart from pari-mutuel horse racing, all forms of sports betting were illegal in Colorado until 2019, when the new law allowed the state’s casinos to partner up with online betting operators and establish retail sportsbooks on-site.

Here are all the key dates that led to a regulated sports betting market in Colorado:

• May 2019: HB1327 concerning sports betting passes the Senate and is signed by the state’s Governor on May 29.
• November 2019: Voters approve said bill, allowing 33 Colorado casinos to apply for sports betting licenses.
• May 2020: Online sports betting officially goes live. BetMGM, BetRivers, FanDuel, and DraftKings are among the first sportsbooks to launch their products in Colorado. The opening of retail sportsbooks is postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
• September 2021: Sports Illustrated launches its first online sportsbook product. SI sportsbook is the latest of 25 online sportsbooks to go live in Colorado.

November 2021: CO sportsbooks hit a record monthly revenue of $36.8 million.

Sports Betting in Colorado: License and Tax Information

Sports betting in Colorado is regulated by the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission. The state initially gave 33 Colorado casinos the right to apply for operating licenses and sign partnerships with online sportsbooks. 

Operators must secure a land-based partner, although they aren’t required to open a retail sportsbook if they wish just to operate online, which is the case with Sports Illustrated, for instance. As of 2022, Colorado has 25 online sportsbooks.

To acquire a license, a casino must pay the initial $10,000 non-refundable fee, together with a $125,000 two-year licensing fee.

Colorado casinos must pay a yearly 10% tax on gross sports betting revenue. As for players, they must report all of their winnings to the IRS, however small they may be and regardless of those on the W2-G form. The winnings are subject to a 24% federal tax and the 4.63% flat income tax. Although sportsbooks will automatically withhold taxing fees for wins over $5,000, you still need to report them on your tax return.

How to Start Betting in a Colorado Online Sportsbook

Even if you’ve never placed an online bet in Colorado, you won’t need any sort of a special tutorial. The whole process is quite intuitive and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

To begin, of course, you’ll need to choose a licensed Colorado betting site, the best of which we’ve listed on this page. Once you’ve made your choice, you can head over to the site’s homepage and sign up.

The sign-up form will require you to share some personal details, which include but are not limited to:

• Full legal name
• Date of birth
• Email address
• Residential address and ZIP code
• Phone number
• Last four digits of your Social Security Number

Before completing the form, make sure to tick the box stating that you’ve read the sportsbook’s terms and conditions. Another thing to pay attention to is a field where you’ll need to input the welcome bonus code, if applicable.

After you finish registering and log in, go to the Deposit page to make your first payment. Choose one of the available payment methods and complete the transaction. Keep in mind that you’ll have to meet the minimum deposit requirement pertaining to the promotion to claim the welcome deposit bonus.

Once you have the money and the bonus credited to your account, you can start browsing the available sports and markets. Click on the odds associated with a given market to add the bet to your slip. From there, you just need to input your stake and confirm the wager.

Eligibility and Geolocation

Like in all of the states, the legal betting age in Colorado is set at 21 for betting in both online and physical sportsbooks. You don’t have to be a resident of Colorado to place bets on Colorado betting sites, but you must be physically located within the state.

In that regard, you will be obligated to install a geolocation plug-in on your desktop device before you make any real-money bets. No such installations are necessary when betting on mobile sites or apps, as mobile devices already have geolocation trackers built-in.

Colorado Sports Betting Partnerships With Professional Teams

Colorado is proud to have several professional teams representing the state in all major sports, including the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and Colorado Rockies.

In order to expand their reach and advertise their offers to sports fans, top Colorado betting sites have made several partnership deals with the state’s pro teams, including:

• FanDuel and the Denver Broncos: The Denver Broncos became the first NFL Betting franchise to land such a partnership after signing a deal with FanDuel in June 2020. The sportsbook thus became the official fantasy sports and sports betting partner of the Broncos, with its signage present at the Empower Field at Mile High stadium. FanDuel is also advertised during the Broncos’ games and on social media channels. 
• BetMGM and the Denver Broncos: BetMGM Casino has also signed a sponsorship deal with the Broncos, resulting in the opening of a branded sports betting lounge at the Mile High stadium and the introduction of the free-to-play prediction game.
• Betfred and the Denver Broncos: Betfred partnered with the Denver Broncos in July 2020, after which it announced plans for the opening of a brand new sports betting lounge outside the Empower Field. The deal also includes stadium signage and other media marketing opportunities.
• Betfred and the Colorado Rockies: Several months after signing a deal with the Broncos, Betfred announced another partnership with a pro sports team from Colorado. The sportsbook reached an agreement with the Colorado Rockies to become the team’s “Proud Partner.” The terms include signage at Coors Field and various game-day experiences such as contests, ticket giveaways, and more.
• DraftKings and the Colorado Rockies: DraftKings was the first sportsbook to strike a deal with the Rockies back in September 2020, becoming the franchise’s official daily fantasy and sports betting operator. DK gained access to Rockies’ logos and trademarks as well as in-stadium brandings.
• PointsBet and the Denver Nuggets: PointsBet became the exclusive sports betting partner of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets after entering a partnership with the team’s owner, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE). The two signed the deal in August 2020, and it includes Altitude TV and Sports Radio promotions and signage at Ball Arena.
• PointsBet and the Colorado Avalanche: The deal PointsBet signed with KSE also extends to the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.

PointsBet and the University of Colorado: In September 2020, the University of Colorado became the first NCAA program to sign a sports betting deal. Their 5-year sponsorship deal with PointsBet includes the sportsbook’s promotions across the university’s sports venues, radio broadcasts, and social media channels.

What Types of Bets Can I Make in Colorado?

Colorado sports betting sites offer a full scope of betting options, from the usual moneyline, spreads, and totals to all kinds of proposition bets. What sets Colorado sportsbooks apart from those in other states is that they may offer special bets for games involving Colorado teams.

Regardless of which CO sports betting platform you choose, you’ll likely run into the following markets:

• Moneyline: Moneyline is the most basic sports bet, as it just involves guessing the winning side in a given game. Minus and plus odds represent the favorite and the underdog, respectively, and show how much money you stand to make on a $100 wager or how much you need to wager to earn a $100 profit. For instance, if you bet on the Denver Nuggets to beat the Utah Jazz and encounter odds of -130, it means that you’ll need to wager $130 for a $100 profit.
• Point spread: Spreads serve to even out the competing sides by giving a certain number of points to the underdog. For example, the Broncos may be the favorites to win against the Chiefs, but the sportsbook might give them negative 7 points. This means that for a point spread bet on the Broncos to hit, they must win by 8 or more points. Alternatively, a bet on the Chiefs will hit if they lose by 7 or less or win the game outright. Since the spreads even out the playing field, you can expect the odds on either side to be similar (around -110).
• Totals: Totals or over/under is a bet relating to the total number of points in a game. A sportsbook will set an estimated number of points at the half-point mark, and the goal would be to guess whether the cumulative number of points scored is going to be over or under said number. For instance, you can guess whether the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat score over or under 211.5 points.
• Props: Props (short for propositions) are a series of bets relating to various aspects of a given game or a match and not necessarily its outcome. They can be divided into game and player props and can involve anything from guessing whether a game will go to overtime, how many points a player will score, who will be the first team to score, and much more.
• Futures: With futures, you can wager on the outcome of a whole season. There are several futures markets to choose from, the most popular of which is guessing the outright winner of a given competition. You can also predict whether a team makes the playoffs, their elimination phase, who wins individual player awards, and more.
• Multi bets: Multi bets imply a bettor putting multiple selections on their betting slip. The three main types of multi bets are parlays (simply betting on two or more selections), teasers (adjusting the spread to your favor), and round robins (a set of separate parlays with no requirement for all of them to hit). You can add anywhere from two to sometimes 15 or more selections (legs) per multi bet.

Live bets: Live betting markets allow you to bet when a game begins. You’ll find all of the mentioned types of bets in the live betting section (except futures), with the odds and lines shifting depending on the current score and the overall situation.

Are Any Bets Off-Limits?

Unlike some states that have legalized sports betting but still restrict bets on local collegiate teams, Colorado does not have such restrictions in place. As a matter of fact, the University of Colorado has even signed a deal with PointsBet.

However, there are still some off-limit college bets in Colorado. Namely, you cannot bet on individual players via player props.

Esports are categorized as sporting events according to the 2019 law, which means that you are free to bet on competitive gaming as well, unlike in some other states, like Arizona, for instance.

Responsible Gambling in Colorado

All CO sports betting sites comply with responsible gambling and patron protection measures. Each website features links and helplines leading to professional services that deal with gambling addiction. What’s more, Colorado sportsbooks allow players to enter self-exclusion and set deposit limits.