- Sports betting launched in Colorado on May 1, 2020.
- With all gaming properties in the state closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic sports betting in Colorado is ‘mobile only’ at this point.
- Over 20 different sports betting companies have or will launch a mobile app in Colorado during 2020.
Despite the delays and other headaches caused by the COVID-19 pandemic we’re as stoked about the future of the Colorado sports betting market as we’ve ever been. Colorado is going to be the next big sports betting market in the United States and it wouldn’t be a huge shock were it to eventually supplant Nevada as the epicenter of the industry. For now, state gaming regulators have done an amazing job of getting things up and running despite their offices being closed due to the pandemic. They’ve done more and better work remotely and via streaming video than many state’s gaming commissions do in the best of circumstances.
Their most recent action is to add Smarkets to their list of licensed sportsbooks and operators. The mobile sportsbook under the master licensed of the Christmas Casino in Cripple Creek represents the UK betting exchange’s first foray into the US market. The mobile app itself will be branded SBK which is the name of their fixed odds wagering division. In fact, it doesn’t look like Smarkets/SBK has as much on the ball as does the Colorado Division of Gaming. The entry on the gaming commission’s home page links to the SBK app website but for now all of the references to monetary amounts on the SBK website are designated in British Pound Sterling (£).
SBK makes it a total of 8 betting apps up and running in the Centennial State:
- SBK/Smarkets
- FoxBet
- BetRivers
- BetMGM
- FanDuel
- DraftKings
- Monarch Casino Blackhawk
- Sky Ute Casino
Note that you won’t find Sky Ute Casino on the state gaming regulator’s list of licensed sports books and operators. They are able to offer sports betting under their existing Class III gaming compact with the state and are not directly subject to licensing oversight by Colorado’s Division of Gaming. The Sky Ute operation is run by Vic Salerno’s US Bookmaking which has positioned itself as the specialist in sports betting for tribal casinos. The Sky Ute app is still very much a ‘work in progress’ but as of earlier this week it was taking action on NASCAR, NFL futures and the breakout sports betting hit of the Coronavirus pandemic, table tennis. The Sky Ute Casino as well as the state’s other tribal gaming property (Ute Mountain Casino) are currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
