DENVER (KDVR) — During Sunday’s Broncos game at Empower Field at Mile High, a sports-betting tent was there for gamblers to come in and bet on the team they expected to win.
“It was great. It reminds me of when we got the lottery here in Colorado,” Gina Morin, a Bronco’s fan said.
The tent allowed gamblers to come in prior to the game to hang out and place their bets. A lot of people described the tent area like a pre-game party and that sports betting adds another element to game day.
“People want to bet and it’s a game,” Morin said.
Darrin C. Duber-Smith, a senior lecturer at Metropolitan State University said the amount of money sports-betting industries are putting into advertising at stadiums is astonishing.
“It’s a money grab. There is so much money out there when it comes to how much these sports-betting companies have,” Duber-Smith said.
The professor stated right now stadiums and teams don’t have exclusive contracts with individual sports betting entities, so he said that’s why people will see several different advertisements.
“The teams are loving it because it’s a new sponsorship source of revenue they didn’t have three years ago,” Duber-Smith said.
He said right now, sports betting is bringing in a different type of gambler and is focusing on those under 30 years old.
“You get a different type of fan that is now more engaged,” Duber-Smith said.
According to data released by the state of Colorado, roughly $181 million was spent just in July 2021 on sports betting in the state of Colorado, and gaming tax revenues have increased by almost $4 million, or 286% over last year.
“I was at the Rockies game today, and I would say over 50% of the advertising was sports-betting related,” Duber-Smith said.
Gambling can become addictive, if you’re struggling with a gambling problem please call the Colorado help line at 1-800-522-4700.