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| By Noelle Phillips, nphillips@denverpost.com When sports betting debuted in Colorado in May 2020, the state had no plan to address an oncoming addiction crisis. It’s not clear how many Coloradans are struggling to control their online sports gambling, but those who work in the mental health field say it’s a growing problem in the state. Since May 2020, more than 45,000 people have called 1-800-GAMBLER, a hotline for those who need help, and 1,245 people are currently on the state’s self-exclusion list, which means they have banned themselves from betting for at least five years. The Denver Post is publishing this three-part series examining the impact of sports betting in Colorado in the six years since it was legalized. Teams and leagues that once kept sports betting at arm’s length have embraced sportsbooks as business partners. That relationship is evolving as scandals have erupted, most recently involving Texas Tech’s quarterback, and as athletes report increasing harassment from angry gamblers who lose money. Still, thousands of Coloradans regularly bet without going overboard, saying putting a little money on games makes them more exciting to watch. And bettors have generated more than $154 million in taxes, money that has gone toward funding water conservation projects across Colorado, helping preserve the state’s reservoirs, rivers and creeks for people and wildlife. Here’s what we learned:
Zach Everett plays golf with friends at West Woods Golf Club in Arvada on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Everett’s sports gambling cost him a job and alienated most of his friends and family. “You’re not going to win yourself out of whatever hole you’re in,” he says. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post) Sports betting threatens to be Colorado’s ‘next big public health crisis’ if addiction isn’t addressedIn November 2021, Zach Everett was on top of the world. Set to launch down a ski slope at Breckenridge, where he was celebrating his engagement with his fiancée and their friends, Everett glanced at his phone before pushing off. A notification informed Everett that he had just won $55,000 on a $15 fantasy-golf wager on the DraftKings sports-betting app. The money was in his PayPal account by the time he finished the run. “That was more than my salary at the time,” he said. “You convince yourself that you’re so good.” The money was gone almost as fast as Everett, high on dopamine from his big score, flew down that mountain. By the end of the ski weekend, he had blown the entire $55,000: drinks and food for his friends, a gold watch and, worst of all, more bets, including an $18,000 loss with one tap on his phone to bet — incorrectly — on the Big 10 football championship. He did not have enough money to buy gas to get home. For Everett, the next two-and-a-half years would be “incredibly off the rails.” Colorado, much like Everett, plunged headfirst into legalized sports betting after voters approved it in 2019. Since online sportsbooks opened in May 2020, the state’s residents have bet more than $30.6 billion on the outcomes of games and on the performances of the athletes who played them, netting the state more than $154 million in tax revenue. But the growing popularity comes at a cost.
Jenny Nehring, of Wetland Dynamics, surveys bird populations in the Russell Lakes Wildlife Refuge in Saguache County, Colorado, on Monday, March 30, 2026. A grant from American Rivers, funded by Coloradans’ sports betting, will provide money for scientists to collect data about winter ice sheets by placing groundwater wells at the wildlife area. (Jacob Spetzler/Special to The Denver Post) How sports betting became Colorado’s ticket to funding $140 million in water conservation projectsFor the 18 ranchers who rely on the Maybell Irrigation District’s canal to funnel water to their fields, the 127-year-old headgate that diverted flow from the Yampa River meant a two-hour round trip through a rocky canyon whenever they needed water. The rusted structure was barely hanging on, and its operation was time-consuming for the busy ranchers, who had to lug special tools on all-terrain vehicles and on foot to open or close the mechanism. But it seemed impossible for the tiny district to find the $6.8 million needed to replace the headgate and the rocky diversion dam that pushed water into the canal. Then legalized sports betting came along, and, with it, millions of dollars for Colorado water projects. The tiny irrigation district, in Moffat County in the far northwest corner of the state, soon became the poster child for how gambling money is benefiting Colorado’s waterways.
Tabitha Marquez goes over bets she has placed on her phone while tailgating before the NFL divisional playoff matchup between the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, outside of Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. (Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post) Sports betting is changing the game for Colorado’s fans and athletes as big money adds new pressuresTabitha Marquez, Denise Gregory and Melanie Solis have tailgated as a family in the Empower Field at Mile High parking lot for as long as anyone can remember. But when legalized sports betting debuted in Colorado in 2020, another tradition took hold at those Lot W tailgates: sports gambling. Now, when the family assembles before the Denver Broncos’ home games, they discuss parlays and point spreads almost as much as they talk about Bo Nix and Sean Payton. On a warm January day, while partying outside their late-model Winnebago painted with blue-and-orange stripes, they figured out the wagers they planned to put on the Broncos’ final regular-season game, against the Los Angeles Chargers, and other NFL matchups. They weren’t alone. Sports betting and fantasy football dominated conversations throughout the parking lots as tailgaters speculated how much they might win.
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The field heads to the first turn during the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Does the Denver Post’s reporter who covers sports betting bet on sports?
“Do you bet on sports?”
I asked that question to everyone I interviewed for this series of stories.
So I thought it would be fair to answer it myself. And my response will be similar to many of those that I received: “Yes, but…”
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