Colorado Online Sports Betting

There are ongoing proactive beginnings of discussions. For example, the Colorado Gaming Association has already met with legislators with minds open to online gambling.

With confirmed industry support, in combination with the winds of legislative change blowing across the U.S. right now, it seems to be little more than a matter-of-time and house votes until Colorado adopts online sports betting.

Despite the state’s relatively open-minded approach to most forms of gambling, Colorado’s sports betting laws are practically non-existent. Far from being a deterrent to establishing sports betting online and land-based in Colorado, the lack of legislation before the Colorado State Legislature could very well be a blessing in disguise.

In a contrary development to most American sports betting laws, the Colorado State Attorney-General Cynthia Coffman announced in August 2018 ‘legalizing sports betting would not require an amendment to the state constitution’. It is still early days, however, if Coffman is correct, Colorado voters may get a free-vote opportunity on the topic by way of a state referendum.

It’s clearly apparent that an appetite for sports gaming exists in Colorado, after the adoption of DFS laws in 2016. Regardless of the State Attorney-General’s comments, state legislators are already advocating for Colorado sports betting, and from their point-of-view, a legislative push for sports betting and online casino laws in Colorado appears likely. The action will not start until 2019 at the next sitting of the State House, however, expect Colorado sports betting to become a hot topic for impending discussion.

The Colorado State Attorney-General’s comments above may assist in establishing the required landscape for sports wagering to be considered in 2019. However, broad-sweeping adoptions of different forms of gambling in Colorado historically struggle on the first legislative push, and the legalization of sports betting could face industry opposition from the remote area casinos.

Remote casinos obviously want exclusivity to Colorado sports betting, which also could limit or potentially delay the expansion of mobile and online sports betting in the state.

Sports Betting Online is currently unavailable in Colorado. Online gambling laws and online casino laws may be required to be debated by the State’s lawmakers once sports betting is permitted and how/where those wagers can be placed.

Like many other states, sports betting may well be offered first in Colorado’s land-based casinos before being offered online.

In good news, all online players over the age of 18 in Colorado currently have access to online Horse Racing Betting and DFS sites that are available to accept online players from the state of Colorado.

U.S. Federal legislation has found Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) to be exempt from Federal jurisdiction on gambling as DFS has been legally assessed at the Federal level to be considered a contest of skill, not a gambling game of chance.

At the Colorado State Level, on June 10, 2016, the Governor of Colorado signed legislation to specifically permit DFS contests in the state. Fantasy contests involving college sports are not allowed and other state provisions on DFS include;

• All sites be licensed
• DFS sites only accept customers over the age of 18
• DFS site employees are ineligible to play in Colorado
• Must be subject to independent audits and take steps to prevent problem gambling occurring and offer advice and assistance if/when it does occur.

All of the major DFS sites operate and to hold real money contests in the state of Colorado.

To date, eSports betting is still unavailable in Colorado. It’s highly anticipated that eSports betting in Colorado will be introduced once the State Legislature rules on the legalization of sports betting in 2019.

What are eSports?

For the uninitiated, eSports is the abbreviation for ‘electronic sports’, video game play at the highest level. eSports are often played in a team format in leagues and tournaments worldwide, not on the individual level. Many video game development companies have launched their own competitions, and as streaming platform technology has improved immeasurably, it has helped turn these competitions into global events.

High-profile games such as Overwatch, CS:GO, Fortnite, Dota 2, League of Legends, and Call of Duty all have their own leagues, tournaments and competitions. Enormous eSports 50000-seater-plus stadiums are now sold out in minutes across the world.

The boom in popularity of the Professional Gaming tournaments has led to eSports wagering growing in popularity every year. In mature sports betting markets such as Canada, Britain, France and Australia, sportsbooks now offer a range of betting markets across all major eSports tournaments.

Once sports betting is legalized in Colorado in 2019, look for eSports betting at your favorite sportsbook in the state.

Horse Racing Betting is legal (both on course/track side and online) for all residents of the state of Colorado. Federal laws allow each state to determine the legality of horse racing betting and most states allow their residents to wager on horse races both Track side, Off Track Betting and online. Many of the largest horse betting websites across the United States have a presence in the state of Colorado, given the Mile-High-State’s history with the development of horse racing and horse racing betting across the United States.

Trackside Betting

Colorado currently has one live horse racetrack facility that runs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for 13 consecutive weekends between May and August. No live greyhound racing currently runs in Colorado.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Colorado

Off track betting and simulcasts are offered at 10 OTB locations across the state of Colorado, during the track racing off-season (i.e. September – April). Wagering on races in Colorado and most major racing locations worldwide are all available.

Online Horse Racing in Colorado

All major U.S. online horse racing betting sites accept customers from the state of Colorado. The major online horse racing betting sites headquartered in the United States all hold licenses to offer real money bets on horses and greyhounds for Colorado residents and visitors to the state.

Visit our Colorado’s online casino gambling page for more information on the gambling laws in the Centennial State