- The state of Colorado is still on track for a May 1 sports betting launch.
- All gaming properties in the state are currently closed through at least April 17.
- The Denver Post newspaper has listed 17 mobile betting apps currently in the works for Colorado.
If you’ve been paying attention at all you have no doubt noticed how stoked we are about the impending launch of sports betting in the state of Colorado. In fact, we’ve been excited ever since the original legislation was signed by Governor Jared Polis and we realized that the Centennial State will very likely have more independent ‘outs’ than any other sports betting market in the country.
State regulators have done a remarkable job getting the infrastructure and licensing set up despite the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was some speculation that the pandemic and resulting shutdowns of many businesses–including the entire Colorado casino gaming industry–might delay the launch of sports betting in the state. That doesn’t appear to be the case and even though most retail betting operations in the state will still be under shutdown orders sports betting will launch on May 1. At the very least, DraftKing, FanDuel, BetMGM and BetRivers (and possibly others) will be ready to go on opening day.
A REMARKABLE ARRAY OF BETTING OPTIONS WITH MORE TO COME
The Sunday Denver Post newspaper has a rundown of the betting apps that are currently in the works for Colorado. Our projected count at this point was 14 but according to the paper there are 17 mobile and web based betting providers that are on the way with a launch at some point this year. We’ve covered most of these in the past and the majority will be very familiar to experienced sports betting enthusiasts. Here’s the full rundown with some commentary as needed:
- BARSTOOL SPORTS
- BETAMERICA (Owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated)
- BETFRED
- BETMGM
- BETRIVERS
- BETWILDWOOD (Partnership between Wildwood Casino and Internet Sports International)
- CIRCA SPORTS COLORADO (The latest entry to the Las Vegas sports betting marketplace heads East to Colorado)
- DIGITAL GAMING CORPORATION (Company better known for online casino slots has obtained a Colorado sports betting license though has given ‘no comment’ about their plans)
- DRAFTKINGS
- FANDUEL
- FOXBET
- POINTSBET
- SBK (Smarkets fixed odds sports betting brand)
- THE SCORE
- SUPERBOOK (as in the Westgate Superbook in Las Vegas)
- WILLIAM HILL
- WSI US (Wynn Resorts interactive subsidiary)
There’s still a few well known brands that are rumored to be coming to Colorado not listed here including 888, Bet365 and Caesars Entertainment.
We’ve got some more Colorado sports betting news waiting in the wings including their first catalog of authorized betting events and leagues.
Big kudos to everyone involved in getting sports betting up and running in Colorado. There were countless opportunities to ‘dumb it down’ but instead the state took the long view. We’ll be heading out to Colorado to do some first hand reporting just as soon as the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown is over.
