We’ve known for a while now that Colorado was going to be bursting with sports betting operators, but we’re seeing it come to fruition in very short order. The Rocky Mountain State just saw that launch of legalized sports betting on May 1 and six operators are already up and running in the state.
Betting events have been few and far between due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped companies from setting up shop via a variety of different partnerships and licenses available in Colorado.
The most recent addition to the Colorado landscape is Fox Bet, which went live on May 19 through its license with Isle Black Hawk and Lady Luck Casinos, which are owned by Eldorado. There are no retail sportsbooks for Fox Bet, but they are able to be an online and mobile only entity based on the law that was passed in Colorado. That was thought to be one of the biggest selling points for the operators and we have already seen those companies take advantage.
FanDuel, DraftKings, BetRivers, and BetMGM were the first to go live. FanDuel and DraftKings are both partnered with the Twin River properties in Black Rock. That made Colorado the fifth state for FanDuel, which also operates in Indiana, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The Twin River name is likely familiar for ATS readers because there are properties in Delaware, Rhode Island, and Mississippi, which are all operated by William Hill.
DraftKings is live in seven states, with New Jersey, Indiana, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Colorado as the most recent one. DraftKings should be a power player in Colorado, much like it is in all of those other states listed.
BetRivers has its license through the J.P. McGills property in Cripple Creek, which is a Triple Crown Casinos property. A retail sportsbook would seem to be in the works at some point, but BetRivers currently operates online and mobile only.
BetMGM is also partnered with a Triple Crown Casino, but they opted for the Midnight Rose right next door in Cripple Creek. Likewise, a retail sportsbook may be in the plans, but BetMGM currently operates online and mobile only.
BetMonarch was the fifth one to go live with a self-branded app.
Along with the launch of the Fox Bet app, major news came out on May 19 that bet365 would be entering its second state in the United States betting space with one of the skins for Century Casino. Bet365 has been opening in New Jersey since the early stages of betting began in the Garden State in 2018, but the global gaming powerhouse had not expanded to any other states. Bet365 does have something in place with the state of New York, but things are moving very slowly there, so the European operator is very likely to start up in Colorado before things even get going in NY.
Big things are definitely happening in Colorado. Along with the six operators that are already live, Circa Sports, Superbook, BetAmerica, Betfred, PointsBet, Wynn, theScore Bet, William Hill, Barstool Sports (Penn National), SBK (Smarkets), ISI, Digital Gaming Corporation, and the Carousel Group are all licensed, but are awaiting the green light to move forward.
There are a lot of licenses up for grabs, so residents of Colorado and those in border states that can slide across the border to place their bets on mobile are going to have a bunch of betting options once everything really gets going and once sports fully return.
We’ll have you fully covered here at ATS for the state of Colorado as things continue to progress.
