Colorado Sports Betting: What Sports Can You Bet On?
Lars Baron/Riot Games Inc. via Getty Images. Pictured: Top laner Hansaem ‘GimGoon’ Kim of FunPlus Phoenix competes during the 2019 League of Legends World Championships
- Colorado sports betting is live, and will have one of the best betting menus of any state in the U.S.
- Here's what you can and can't bet in Colorado.
Back in November 2019, Colorado voters narrowly passed Proposition DD, paving the way for legal online sports betting in the state.
And now that Colorado's May 1 launch is upon us, let's examine all the different sports and bet types you'll legally be able to bet in Colorado.
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Colorado Sports Betting: What Sports Are Legal to Bet?
Eventually, there could be 33 different sportsbooks up and running in Colorado, which will be the 18th to be taking legal sports wagers in the U.S. Some of the sports betting brands that have committed to launching in Colorado include DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, BetRivers, Circa Sports, SuperBook USA and more.
That type of market means competition will be fierce and the offerings for bettors will be abundant. There are 40 different sports categories and more than 1,000 different wager types sportsbooks will be legally allowed to offer at launch.
[For more on the best Colorado sportsbooks and apps to use, check out our CO sports betting hub.]
You obviously have your standard sports, such as the NFL and NBA, but eSports is far and away the biggest headline to come from the state's recently approved catalog. Sportsbooks will be able to offer bets on eight unique leagues: Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA2, E-Nascar, League of Legends, NBA2K, Overwatch and Rainbow Six.
eSports betting has taken off during the COVID-19 pandemic and Colorado joins the list along side Nevada and West Virginia among those that have allowed betting on video games.
Alongside eSports you'll also find a number of sports that you probably have never heard of that have been approved in Colorado, including…
- Pesapollo: The national sport of Finland that has some similarities to baseball. It's played with a bat, ball and bases — but the pitcher stands right next to the batter and pitches the ball vertically. The base path is also set in a zig-zag formation in this fast-paced stick-and-ball sport.
- Floorball: This sport, also known as bandy, was invented in Sweden in the 1960s and most well known in Nordic countries. It's a form of floor hockey played indoors with five players and a goalie on each team.
- Futsal: An indoor variant of soccer, primarily played indoors with a smaller ball and smaller pitch. It's a five-on-five game (including the goalie) that was invented in Uruguay in the 1930s and originally meant to be played on a basketball court. Another major difference from traditional futbol (or soccer) is there is no offside rule.
There's also an expansive list of over 1,000 approved wagering types. You'll find all of the usual betting options in addition to countless props. Here's a fun baseball example: bet on the first team to hit a home run.
Another bet type that stuck out to me was each-way betting in golf. For those not familiar, this allows for a bettor to back a golfer to win AND place. The terms of the place can vary by book but here's an example:
Let's say Tiger Woods is 20-1 to win a tournament and 5-1 to finish in the top five. If you place a $50 each-way bet, you'd have $50 on Tiger to win and $50 on him to finish in the top 5. If he comes up just short and finishes second, you'd still walk away with a profit of $200.
While those in the Centennial State can wager on snooker and handball, they still won't have the option to bet on college football and college basketball (and all NCAA sports), at least at the start. The state gaming commission recently revoked college athletics from the catalog, but that could soon change as the commission is set to meet in May to further discuss this topic.
The lack of collegiate sport offerings shouldn't impact bettors too much in the short term, as all of them are currently suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More Colorado Sports Betting Coverage
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