The Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission will meet for the first time since voters agreed to sports betting in November last year. The Feb. 20 meeting is expected to provide seven new sports betting licenses in the state.

A variety of licenses on offer

The commission will review numerous applications for master licenses which will allow operators to run both web-based and mobile betting operations as well as brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. The master licenses will allow them to partner with third parties for online betting products. The seven properties seeking licenses from the Commissions include Saratoga Casino Black Hawk, Monarch Casino Resort and Spa, Midnight Rose Hotel & Casino, McGill’s Hotel & Casino, Double Eagle Hotel & Casino, Dostal Alley, and Brass Ass Casino.

Note that Double Eagle is the largest gaming property of Cripple Creek while Midnight Rose, McGill’s and Brass Ass are all Colorado Casino properties. The state has 30 tribal and commercial casinos, which means 27 other properties may apply for licenses sooner or later. Most of these casinos are located in Cripple Creek, Central City, and Black Hawk.

What are other companies doing?

All casinos located in the state are expected to apply for a sports betting license, given the immense possibilities for garnering more revenues. Most gaming operators are currently busy positioning themselves in the market. Note that Colorado law required companies looking to offer web or mobile-based sports betting services must have affiliations with land-based gaming properties.

Twin River Worldwide Holdings (TRWH), for instance, has already acquired three smaller casinos in the state. The company has also agreed to partnerships with DraftKings and FanDuel and aims to use their betting services in the state as well. TRWH will have a total of four gaming venues in the state now. Another gaming company, Century Casinos, has partnered with Circa Sports from Las Vegas to offer mobile and sports betting in its two casinos.

Colorado has a long way to go when it comes to sports betting. The state passed Proposition DD on the ballot narrowly in November 2019. The main reason behind this was to generate revenue to fill a $100 million gap in the water budget of the state. However, it doesn’t seem revenues will be too encouraging initially. Gov. Jared Polis’s administration suggests that revenues for the first year may not be more than $1.5 to $1.7 million. This is primarily because betting will begin in May, way after the NBA regular season and NCAA basketball seasons begin.