Colorado Sports Betting Launch: What You Need To Know About The Sportsbook Apps

Earlier this week, Colorado residents began to experience trickles of a return to normalcy with the initial easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

On Friday, they’ll gain a new amenity whose launch qualifies as one of the few things adhering to original timelines these days – sports betting.

Plans for a May 1 sports betting launch in the Centennial State have survived the uncertain times the entire world is currently subject to. As such, Colorado sports fans will have something to cheer for locally, even as the return dates of the local Colorado Rockies, Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets are still undecided.

Apps began going live on Friday at 10 am MT and some prominent operators will be open for business on Day 1: DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM and BetRivers. There’s still a possibility of some last-minute additions as more than a dozen sportsbook apps are expected to launch in Colorado in the coming months.

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Colorado sports betting apps

The DraftKings and FanDuel apps have been available for download in the state for some time and reportedly been extremely popular. That’s not exactly surprising, for several reasons:

• The two sportsbooks have quickly built up strong reputations in other states.
• Colorado allows for remote sports betting account creation for all its mobile sportsbooks, a particularly critical convenience under current conditions.
• Speaking of life in 2020, the restrictions and lack of sports Coloradans have been subjected to leading into Friday’s debut could certainly generate even more interest than would have already existed under normal circumstances.

What can I bet on in Colorado?

As welcome as the rollout is, current limitations do dictate it comes with a catch – there’s just not a lot to bet on just yet. In fact, the one unfortunate aspect of the May 1 date is the state’s sportsbooks narrowly missed out on what would have likely been a highly popular betting event – the just-completed NFL Draft.

On the other hand, Colorado’s nascent industry also dodged a bullet in the form of a particularly lean late-March/early-April sports landscape.

In the immediate wake of the suspension of play of most major sports leagues and outright cancellation of the NCAA Basketball Tournament back in mid-March, sportsbooks around the country scrambled to offer wagers on anything that was familiar to U.S. bettors.

Some of those holdovers will still be in play for Colorado residents, including:

• Nicaraguan soccer
• Belarussian soccer
• Table Tennis (Moscow, Seika Cup and TT Star Pro Series)
• Darts
• NASCAR iRacing

However, those more obscure offerings have been joined by Asian leagues that sanction the sorely missed and highly recognizable tandem of baseball and basketball:

• The five-team Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan has been in action since April 12 (games are currently airing live on Twitter with English commentary).
• Taiwan’s Super Basketball League (SBL) is currently playing out its finals between the Taiwan Beer and Yulon Dinos.

There will also be a healthy dose of futures wagers available for events that sports fans and leagues both hold out hope will eventually unfold in 2020.

These include:

• Winners for the four major sports (MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL)
• 2020 NCAA Football
• Tennis’ Mens’ and Ladies’ U.S. Open and Mens’ and Women’s French Open
• Golf’s USPGA Championship, U.S. Open, Ryder Cup  and The Masters

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More betting options possible in short order

And there appears to be more good news on the horizon.

Naturally, any plans these days naturally carry a significant asterisk. But there seems to be some tangible momentum from the gradual reopening of certain areas of the country seeping into the sports landscape.

Consequently, Colorado bettors could be looking at much more robust betting lobbies within a matter of weeks:

• UFC appears ready to return with a stacked May 9 showcase (but no fans) in Jacksonville.
• NASCAR currently has plans for a return to the track May 17 with a 400-mile race at Darlington Raceway.
• At last report, MLB may be honing in on a couple of different scenarios that could see the season start in early July.
• The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) is on track to kick off its regular season May 5. ESPN is reportedly in negotiations to broadcast some of those contests to a baseball-starved North American audience.
• The NBA’s latest brainstorm for their own possible resumption includes a Walt Disney World Resort setting where the remainder of a regular season and the postseason would be played out.
• There has been some talk of the NHL returning to the ice in July.
• The PGA Tour continues with plans to return with the Charles Schwab Challenge June 8-14 in Fort Worth.

Additionally, other leagues such as Australia’s National Rugby League, La Liga, Serie A and English Premier League are all reportedly in various stages of planning for jumping into action.

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Plenty of appealing home-state futures bets right from launch

And, although the NBA, MLB and NHL still lack definitive return dates – and the NFL is still months away even if starts on time – Colorado bettors will also be able to place futures bets on their home-state clubs immediately.

The following are just some of the many futures wagering opportunities available on local favorites at each of the aforementioned quartet of sportsbooks that will be accessible as of Friday:

Colorado Rockies World Series 2020 Champions

• DraftKings Sportsbook: +15000 (150/1)
• FanDuel Sportsbook: +22000 (220/1)
• BetMGM: +30000 (300/1)
• BetRivers: +15000 (150/1)

Denver Nuggets 2019-20 NBA Champions

• DK Sportsbook: +3000
• FD Sportsbook: +2500
• BetMGM: +2000
• BetRivers: +3000

 Colorado Avalanche 2019-20 Stanley Cup Champions

• DK Sportsbook: +1000
• FD Sportsbook: +850
• BetMGM: +800
• BetRivers: +1000

Denver Broncos Super Bowl LV Champions

• DK Sportsbook: +4000
• FD Sportsbook: +6000
• BetMGM: +5000
• BetRivers: +4000

Denver Broncos 2020 AFC Conference Champions

• DK Sportsbook: +1800
• FD Sportsbook: +3000
• BetMGM: +2500
• BetRivers: +1800

Keep your browsers locked to TheLines.com for more news and information about legal sports betting in Colorado this month.