Colorado Sports Betting to Launch Friday with DraftKings, FanDuel, ROAR Digital Despite No Sports

Colorado Sports Betting to Launch Friday with DraftKings, FanDuel, ROAR Digital Despite No Sports.

Costfoto / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

Colorado gaming regulators have vowed to launch the state’s sports betting market this Friday, May 1 as planned. This is despite a lack of any sports to bet on and widespread uncertainty about when that might change.

Colorado sports bettingColorado casinos, such as those in Cripple Creek (pictured), may be closed currently, but four of their online partners are ready to go Friday. (Image: Colorado Springs Business Journal)

Dan Hartman, director of the state Division of Gaming, acknowledged to The Denver Post that it was a “slow time for sports.” But he vowed to press ahead.

“We’re really hoping to get through this and see the resurgence of the industry,” he said.

While launching in the current climate might be something of an anticlimax, the market could eventually become a big deal for .

PlayColorado analyst Dustin Gouker believes, once matured, it could be worth , handling $6 billion in bets each year.

Anticlimax?

Operators are required to partner with Colorado’s 35 land-based casinos to participate, which will make it a vibrant and competitive market when it gets into full swing.

But with each of those casinos currently shuttered because of the coronavirus, Friday’s debut will be a muted, online-only affair.

In due time, Colorado consumers will have their pick of 17 different online sports books, although only four FanDuel, DraftKings, , and MGM and GVC joint venture plan to launch on Friday, according to The Post.  

They’ll be hoping to earn some early-mover kudos, even if there will be little more than Belarusian soccer, Russian table tennis, and a smattering of Asian baseball on the menu.

Can Esports Fill the Void?

That’s in terms of traditional sports. Colorado’s sports betting rules also permit wagering on esports, provided the contests are sanctioned by a governing body and the participants are at least 18 years of age.

The esports segment has seen an uptick during lockdown in jurisdictions where it’s permitted. Esports betting solutions provider UltraPlay this week reported a 400 percent surge in wagering on competitive video gaming across all its platforms since March.

Colorado is one of the few US states to have specifically written esports wagering into its laws since US Supreme Court’s rejection of the federal prohibition on sports betting made state-by-state regulation possible.

and racetracks began generating odds on esports in November last year, while at the same time, FanDuel became the first online sports book in the US to take bets on esports contests.

If ever there were an opportunity for sports books to explore the potential of esports betting in a completely new market, here it is.

No Kentucky Derby

In the meantime, despite future potential, Colorado’s Q1 sports betting figures are not expected to blow anyone away.

May 1 was presumably chosen as a launch date because it would have been the Kentucky Derby weekend. That has now been postponed until early September.

But May, June, and July are typically the slowest months on the US sporting calendar anyway.

Launching in the spring will allow sportsbooks to build marketing, sign-up customers, and tweak their offerings in preparation for the big one, the NFL season which may or may not start in September.

Article Sources
DraftKings Selling up to $1.15 Billion in Convertible Notes, Could Fund Deals editorial policy.
  1. Michigan Wolverines Dominating College Football Futures Betting at BetMGM

Compare Accounts
×
Atlantic City Casinos Lose Cash Live But Not Online
Provider
Name
Description
Sioux Falls Man Wields Machete in Gaming Convenience Store, Arrested for Aggregated Assault  The 13 Macau Owner Changing Name to South Shore Holdings, Hotel Targets April Opening  The 13 Macau Owner Changing Name to South Shore Holdings, Hotel Targets April Opening  Live! Casino Pittsburgh Set to Open Late 2020, Venue is 30 Miles from Steel City  Hard Rock, Hulk Hogan Tag Team for New ‘Real American Beer’  Chicago Area Grocer Shelved to Federal Prison for Bookmaking, Tax Evasion  NFL Lands Genius Sports Stock Worth Almost $450 Million Tied to Data Agreement  Live! Casino Pittsburgh Set to Open Late 2020, Venue is 30 Miles from Steel City  Fontainebleau Resort Goes on the Market for $650 Million  Las Vegas Hookah Lounge Partiers Had Weapons During Deadly Violence