StateNews
Rolling the dice Colorado gets $6.6M from its first year of sports betting by Corey H. Jones
A
fter closing the books on its first year of legalized sports betting, Colorado collected more than $6.6 million in tax revenue. The programs set to receive that money will start to do so this fall. Voters passed Proposition DD by a slim margin in 2019. But by the time legal betting launched in May of last year, the state didn’t know what to expect because of the pandemic, Colorado’s director of gaming Dan Hartman said. “I think when we started out, we were very conservative, not knowing how it was going to go,” he said. “But we've been really impressed and I think excited about the numbers that have come in.” Things may have gotten off to a slow start early on in the pandemic with casinos closed, many people stuck at home, and most professional The crowd goes wild for the Denver Nuggets during a playoff watch party at The DNVR sports postponing their seasons. That Bar on East Colfax Ave. on May 29. Legal sports betting brought in $6.6 million in tax meant a lot of wagers on sports like revenue last year./ Photo by Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite table tennis and mixed martial arts. But overall wagers went up in the fall thanks in large part to the return of the casinos make off of sports betting. So when help them stay off that downward spiral,” National Football League, which typically the house wins, the state wins. This revenue Hartman said. “We keep looking at ways to draws a lot of betting action. In January, does not include any income taxes placed make sure that responsible gaming is built Colorado collected more than $1 million in on individual winnings. Instead, you take into what we do.” the money lost by bettors in Colorado and Of the tax revenue the state collects monthly tax revenue for the first time. “I think that recovery is happening then sportsbooks essentially pay a 10 per- from sports betting, $130,000 goes directly across the board obviously as sports play cent tax on those profits. There’s the state’s to gambling addiction services, like crisis hotlines and counseling. continues to increase,” Joe Bertolone, exec- tax revenue. Given that the vast majority of sports But Lantz, the gambling counselor, said utive director the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ International Center for Gaming bets in Colorado have been made online, more needs to be done to make people Regulation, said. “If you look at the gaming the lower barrier to entry has made addic- aware of both the risks and the resources. industry as a whole, regional operators tion a risk. The ability to bet on a mobile That means educating professionals like started to recover more quickly than inte- device makes it easier to hide the problem bankers and therapists to help identify pograted resort or destination places like Las from friends and family, said Nancy Lantz, tential gambling problems. who’s worked as a gambling counselor in “I absolutely love the fact that we do Vegas.” have money earmarked to take care of probA big factor in that resurgence is mobile the state for 20 years. “It’s not unusual for me to see somebody lem gambling,” she said. “It’s not nearly betting. Wagers made by computer or smartphone account for more than 80 per- that has anywhere from $100,000 to enough.” $200,000 in debt,” she said. “And if their The rest of the tax money will be used to cent of bets, according to Bertolone. “It's because of the ease of use,” he said. spouse doesn’t know about it, then they be- pay back the $1.74 million that lawmakers “The other thing that the operators are come desperate and the thoughts of suicide allocated basically for start-up costs. Then, doing is they were forced to get even more are very strong because of the embarrass- 6 percent will go to what’s called a hold sophisticated in regards to their wagering ment of what they’ve done and also trying harmless fund, which allows the state to menus, meaning what types of bets are to figure out how they’re going to get them- make up for losses in tax revenue from traselves out of debt.” ditional gambling and even horse racing as placed.” This is another area where the pandemic a result of sports betting. The entities that Colorado’s 33 casinos all have master licenses for sports betting. From there, they has had a big impact. Some people who lost can apply for this money include the state need specific licenses to offer mobile and jobs turned to gambling. Others bet their historical fund, counties and cities with retail betting. Two-thirds of them are cur- stimulus checks, and plenty bet for enter- casinos, and community colleges. But most rently licensed mobile operators, while 16 tainment because there wasn’t really any- of the tax revenue will go to water conserthing else to do, Lantz added. vation and storage projects. The exact are licensed for in-person sports betting. Hartman, the director of gaming, said amounts will be determined later this sumAnd over the first year, sports bettors in the state wagered more than $2.3 billion betting apps and websites have features mer. Then the state’s gaming commission built in to help people control how much needs to approve those distributions, which online and at casinos. “We saw tremendous momentum last they wager or pause their betting. Operators it will likely do in September. n year,” Hartman said. “Things are coming can also detect if someone has a problem. For more from Colorado Public Radio, go to: “And many of them do reach out to the back to normal.” By law, this program only taxes profits customer and offer other things … that will www.cpr.org.
8 n June 3, 2021
telegraph
