COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — As Colorado's football teams return to action this season, the state is seeing record-breaking sports betting numbers.
Between the start of the 2024 College and NFL football seasons and the Super Bowl, Coloradans wagered more than $1 billion on football alone, according to the Colorado Gaming Commission.
"The last fiscal year, we saw over $210 million bet on college football compared to $851 million bet on the NFL, so between the two of them we had over a billion dollars wagered in the state," said Christopher Schroder with the Gaming Commission.
The massive betting numbers might surprise casual fans. When asked to guess how much Coloradans wagered on football last year, local sports fans Ricardo Cruz and Brandon Heid were off by several zeros.
"$40 million, I want to say," Cruz said.
"$25 million," Brandon guessed.
Both men represent typical Colorado bettors who place modest wagers on games. Cruz sets a $20 daily limit, while Brandon places one $30 bet every Sunday on his Baltimore Ravens.
"I'm definitely going to be betting on the Ravens, probably about 30 bucks," Brandon said.
"Regular season, yeah, postseason we might get up to $50," he added.
The Gaming Division's July report showed a nearly 10% year-over-year increase in money wagered, with the state seeing about a 5% increase in wagers and a 21% increase in taxes collected.
Schroder said wagers correlate directly with Colorado teams' success.
"When the Broncos are doing well, we see much higher wagers being placed on them. Same with the Nuggets and the Avalanche," Schroder said.
Sports betting operators pay a 10% tax for every wager they win, and a majority of that collected tax goes to Colorado water conservation projects. More than $26 million was funded through sports betting taxes alone.
The Gaming Division advises people to bet responsibly, like Cruz and Brandon, who both set limits and know when to stop.
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