Colorado has become the testing ground for alternative and small sportsbook operators. However, it faces a significant shift as another betting platform exits the Colorado sports betting market. According to bookie software experts, SI Sportsbook is the seventh sportsbook operator to depart from the state. Also, the US sports betting market suffers from a contraction instead of an expansion in 2024.
According to bookie software experts, the continuous fall coincides with a year in which no U.S. jurisdiction has legalized gambling, whether online casino gaming or sports betting. When voters in Missouri decide on a possible legalization initiative in November, they might be the only ones to break this trend.
Even if Missouri approved the plan, no new gaming laws would go into effect in the United States until 2024, the first year after PASPA was repealed in 2018.
Colorado Sports Betting Market and Other States
Some states, like Minnesota and Georgia, have resisted efforts to authorize online gambling. Problems these jurisdictions have faced include moral concerns, difficulties connecting legal betting with other types of gambling (such as video lottery terminals), and competing interests between charitable organizations and tribal gaming organizations.
According to sports betting news by bookies, there is a diminishing selection for customers even in jurisdictions where betting on sports online is still permitted. After the announcements of Betfred, Betsafe, ClutchBet, Novig, SuperBook, WynnBet, and SI Sportsbook’s intentions to leave the state beginning in the summer of 2023, Colorado has been hit harder than other states. SI Sportsbook is notable among the operators in Colorado, which announced its closure the previous month.
Things have moved quickly in Colorado recently. During the last 30 days, several betting sites have gone dark: August 31 was Betfred, September 16 was ClutchBet, and September 6 was Betsafe, with a total shutdown scheduled for September 30. As an example of how quickly things may change in this sector, consider that Sporttrade also entered the Colorado market at about the same time.
SI Sportsbook Exits Colorado
Meanwhile, SI Sportsbook abruptly ended operations in Colorado on September 18 without providing any warning, as announced on its website homepage. The announcement guided consumers to customer support for additional help and notified them about the closing date and the deactivation of deposits.
Although it was online in over ten US jurisdictions in 2023, the platform still runs in Virginia and Michigan. At its height, twenty-plus live sports betting sites were available in Colorado, but that number has since dropped.
Another major market participant, Betfred, will likewise cease operations in Arizona on November 4. On September 19, the firm announced this decision and stopped accepting deposits, bets, and new registrations in the state.
Clients will get a paper check for outstanding amounts not settled by 10 p.m. local time on November 4. Betfred shut down its sites in Ohio and Maryland earlier in 2023 to add to the changing sports betting scene.
Despite the closure of some sportsbooks, it is still the best time to learn how to be a bookie. You can become an independent bookie with a pay per head solution.
