Colorado Attempt to Legalize Sports Books

The state of Colorado could be set to embrace legal sports betting if a new piece of legislature if approved by voters following a vote later this year. The bill in question has already passed several tests and is now set to face its final hurdle—if successful, 17 casinos in the state will be given the opportunity to establish in-person sportsbooks on their premises.

Gambling Already Exists

One of the biggest arguments for this law is that sports betting is already taking place in the state, only it’s happening illegally. In passing this law lawmakers are hoping that they can regulate and profit from this market, making it safer and bringing in some additional tax revenue in the process.

There are also suggestions that it could impact on online sports betting. In theory, a casino in the state could sign a contract with an online operator that would allow for the creation of a mobile betting app to simplify the betting process.

Colorado Water Plan

One of the main driving forces of the bill is something known as the Colorado Water Plan. If passed then some of the proceeds would be used to fund the conservation and protection of the state’s water. This is a project that is in dire need of funding and one that could see an influx of thousands of dollars from legal sports betting, money that will be put to very good use.

There have been some concerns, of course, and many of these revolve around the potential for problem gambling. The status quo among state senators is that there will be more pros than cons, but whether the public will agree with them or not remains to be seen.

The vote is set to take place in November, after which we could see some major changes to the online and offline gambling industry in the state of Colorado.