Colorado Jumps into Sports Betting End of the Pool

It's official. Colorado residents have voted to bring legalized sports gambling to the state. It was really Touch n Go for most of the night the elections were held, but when the polls closed and the final votes were counted, Colorado voters said yes.

The win for measure Prop DD was a big win for sports gamblers. With that said, the margin of victory hardly supported any contention this measure was popular. At the end of the day, the measure passed by a little less than 2.5% of the vote.

It was a rough night for the measure's primary sponsor Rep. Alec Garnett. During the time precinct tallies started rolling in, neither yes or no was ever able to gain any kind of meaningful advantage. By the time 50% of the vote had been counted, it was clear the outcome would not be evident until every last vote was in the books.

When to Expect the Sports Betting Party to Begin

At this point, getting the measure passed was just the first in a line of several other things that need to get done. Current estimates say that the first legal sports bet in Colorado probably won't happen until May of 2020 at the earliest. At issue is the need for finalization of regulations and the approval of licensing for prospective sports betting operators.

At this point, the Prop DD allows for up to 33 licencees. According to Garnett, the beginning number is more likely to come in at between 9 and 12. That allows for plenty of future growth.

Since the the Colorado Division of Gaming already has working relationships with the properties that will most likely apply for licensing, he doesn't anticipate any issues during the licensing process. In the press release, he stated:

“The licensing will all depend on when casinos decide to come forward. I’m sure that won’t take very long. The relationship that will take time to vet will be online operators.”

Yes, the measure does allow for an online sports betting option. Given the success of online sports gambling in New Jersey, Indiana and Pennsylvania, it looks like more states are going to bite the bullet and move forward with the online component.

With Colorado set to join the sports betting fray, many of the sports betting leaders, A.K.A FanDuel and BetAmerica, are chomping at the bit to become leaders in yet another state.