That means in an average month, roughly 70% of Colorado’s sports betting handle is emanating from the Black Hawk relationship.Īnd now here comes the awkward part.

Half of those sportsbooks in Colorado are tied to Black Hawk, but those books include the largest players like DraftKings and Caesars. Compare New York and Pennsylvania taking 51 and 36% of sportsbook profits compared to Colorado at 10%.

Caesars came into the Isle Casino, which was rebranded Horseshoe.Ĭolorado has 24 mobile sportsbooks, a testament to one of the least stringent tax programs on sports betting in the country. The Lodge Casino struck a deal with legendary Vegas brand SuperBook. So, in Black Hawk, Penn’s Ameristar hotel added its Barstool Sportsbook. Mobile gaming is where the vast, vast majority of bettors place their wagers.Īnd as is the case with most states, sportsbooks that operate on mobile must be tied to a land-based casino.

In sports betting, Black Hawk’s value is in being the land-based location for online sportsbooks. In fact, last year, 14% more gaming revenue was generated in tiny Black Hawk than revitalized downtown Las Vegas. Inside those casinos, many of which are designed to mimic a “Sin City” vibe, just under $900 million worth of gambling revenue was produced in 2022, making it the 13th-most valuable city in gaming, according to the American Gaming Association. 13 in population among states which have legalized.Īlong Black Hawk's less than two mile road, there are 15 casinos. Five states - New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois - have each taken more than $20 billion in bets over the last five years.īut it’s Colorado which is the most impressive on a per capita basis, having taken in a whopping $11.6 billion in sports bets since May 2020, seventh-most in the country despite being No. In the era of the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, there are more valuable states than Colorado. There are so few residents here that if you walk the less than two square mile stretch that makes up this city, you likely won't see a single person that actually lives there.Īnd yet, this town of roughly 100 residents who live in 61 homes is the most valuable town in legalized sports gambling America.Īs we usher in the fifth anniversary of a Supreme Court decision that allowed states to decide their own sports gambling fate, Black Hawk, Colorado stands alone as the sports gambling capital of this new world. On a spring afternoon in a small Colorado town, there are so few people outside that you can hear the water rushing in the North Clear Creek that runs through town.

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