The Colorado Senate on Tuesday passed a landmark bill to establish firmer responsible gaming standards and procedures in its sports betting market.
Legislators passed Senate Bill 26-131 by a 20-14 vote, sending a bipartisan measure that aims to implement additional safeguards for online sports wagering in the state to the House for further consideration.
“Pernicious algorithms and advertisements are increasingly preying on vulnerable online sports bettors,” said bill co-sponsor Sen. Matt Ball amid the measure’s Senate approval. “Since Colorado’s legalization of online sports betting in 2019, technology has rapidly transformed the industry, catching more and more people in the cycle of devastating gambling addiction.
“As online sports betting continues its rise in popularity, we must ensure there are reasonable protections in place to help prevent addiction, protect underage Coloradans, and uphold the integrity of the game and its athletes”.
Senate subcommittee removes prop ban provision
SB 26-131 reached the full Senate floor and advanced following its third reading in the chamber after garnering support from the Senate Appropriations Committee last week. The committee narrowly approved the bill by a 4-3 vote, sending it to the full Senate floor.
The subcommittee advanced SB 26-131 after removing a proposed provision that aimed to prohibit prop wagers for sports betting in Colorado. The ban would have applied to sports wagers tied to:
- an individual athlete’s performance
- a specific officiating decision
- a penalty
- an injury
- any outcome other than the final result or score of a sporting event
The subcommittee pointed to a fiscal note for their reasoning to remove the proposed prop ban. Ball projects the state to lose $800,000 in state revenue from sports betting in the next year. A previous projection that included the prop wager ban estimated a $2.4m decline.
The bulk of the $800,000 in tax revenue is projected to derive from the bill’s credit card ban.
Louisiana no longer considering prop ban
Earlier this month, lawmakers in Louisiana initiated a similar tactic with a proposed legislative ban on prop and micro markets.
The bill to ban prop and micro bets was tossed over lost revenue concerns, with a fiscal note projecting a ban would result in a $21m decline in tax revenue.
Bill proposes major changes for Colorado sports betting
SB 26-131 no longer includes a prop ban, but the legislation aims to make sweeping changes to how Colorado delivers safeguards for sports betting in the state.
In addition to banning credit card deposits, SB 26-131 proposes other changes in Colorado:
- Prohibiting the use of “bonus bet” or “no sweat” language by sportsbooks in marketing and advertising
- Establishing a limit of six separate deposits for a sports betting account holder in a 24-hour period
- Bannng push notifications or text messages to account holders to solicit wagers or deposits
- Banning a sportsbook or its marketing affiliate from targeting people under the age of 21
Lawmakers abandon broadcast ads ban, idea of limiting sharps
Before it passed the Senate, SB 131 was scaled down significantly.
A proposed ban on broadcast channels delivering sports betting advertisements between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. during live sporting events was scratched during the amendments process, as was a suggestion of imposing new rules to stop sportsbooks from limiting sharp bettors.
A previous iteration of SB 26-131 also proposed a limit of five separate deposits in a 24-hour period, compared to the now-approved Senate version that increases the limit to six.
SB 26-131 is being sent to the House after Colorado residents and visitors placed more than $6.3bn in online sports wagers in 2025, an increase of over 130% compared to 2020, according to data provided by Ball and a group of bipartisan cosponsors.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing in the House Finance Committee on Monday, May 4.
