Colorado is looking to change sports betting in the state

Sports betting faces a significant transformation as legislators in Colorado introduce new measures designed to address mounting concerns surrounding problem gambling and integrity.

A bipartisan responsible gaming bill, SB26-131, would fundamentally reshape how gamblers can fund accounts and how sportsbooks can market to players. But the biggest part of this legislation would prohibit sports books from offering proposition bets on individual player performances. This legislative push represents one of the most aggressive regulatory responses to the explosive growth of mobile betting applications since their introduction following a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 that opened the door for individual states to allow betting on sports.

The proposed restrictions emerge against a backdrop of escalating problem gambling indicators and high-profile integrity scandals that have rocked professional athletics nationwide. Lawmakers from both major political parties have united behind this effort, signaling broad recognition that the current regulatory framework requires substantial reinforcement to protect vulnerable populations and preserve competitive fairness. They now admit the original rules didn’t foresee how addictive modern betting apps could be, especially since they use advanced psychological tactics to keep people playing and spending. Now Colorado legislators face a tough challenge: adding real protections without undoing the voter-approved laws that made these activities legal. The goal is to address the risks while still respecting the will of the voters who supported regulated sports betting.

The Legislative Framework and Its Core Provisions

The newly introduced measure, Senate Bill 26-131, includes a range of regulations aimed at creating stronger safeguards against problem gambling. At its foundation, the legislation seeks to eliminate wagers on individual athlete performances, a category of betting that has become increasingly popular among users but raises significant integrity concerns - player props. These props allow bettors to speculate on specific statistical outcomes for particular players, creating potential incentive structures for corruption that traditional side and total wagering do not. The elimination of these wager types represents the most dramatic component of the proposed reforms, fundamentally altering the product offerings that have driven substantial growth for sportsbooks in the U.S. Beyond this central prohibition, the legislation incorporates multiple additional restrictions targeting the mechanisms that facilitate excessive wagering behavior and the marketing techniques that normalize constant engagement with these platforms.

The Proposition Betting Phenomenon

Players props represent the fastest-growing and most profitable segment of the online sports betting market, driven by their appeal to casual bettors and their favorable odds structures for operators. These wagers allow bettors to speculate on specific statistical outcomes for individual athletes - whether a quarterback will throw multiple touchdown passes, whether a basketball player will achieve certain scoring thresholds, or whether a baseball player will record particular hit totals. Player props create numerous betting opportunities within single games, dramatically expanding the potential engagement points compared to traditional team-based wagering. Platforms have developed sophisticated interfaces that make constructing complex multi-leg wagers simple and intuitive, encouraging users to combine multiple individual propositions into parlays that offer attractive potential payouts but carry extremely low probability of success. The mathematical structure of these wagers heavily favors operators, with hold percentages significantly higher than traditional point spread or moneyline bets. This profitability has driven platforms to emphasize these products through prominent placement in user interfaces and targeted marketing campaigns.

The mathematical structure of these wagers heavily favors operators, with hold percentages significantly higher than traditional point spread or moneyline bets. This profitability has driven platforms to emphasize these products through prominent placement in user interfaces and targeted marketing campaigns. The combination of frequent small wins that reinforce continued play and occasional larger payouts that create memorable positive experiences generates powerful behavioral conditioning that encourages more betting. 

Beyond their addictive potential, individual player wagers create unique integrity risks that traditional team-based wagering does not present. When wagers focus on team outcomes, corrupting the result requires coordinating multiple participants, creating logistical challenges and increasing detection risks. Individual performance wagers, by contrast, can potentially be influenced by a single athlete who controls the specific statistic being wagered upon. This creates opportunities for corruption that are both easier to execute and harder to detect than traditional point-shaving schemes. The existing prohibition on collegiate player propositions in the Rocky Mountain State reflects recognition of these heightened risks, but the proposed legislation would extend this protection to professional athletes as well. 

Advertising restrictions

The bill also aims to end the endless television ads and phone notifications pushed to people during sporting events. It would prohibit advertisements for sportsbooks between 8 AM and 10 PM.  The restriction would apply not just during live sporting events  but across all programming for the majority of the day, looking to reduce exposure to minors and other vulnerable populations. The restrictions specifically target broadcast advertising, not digital or social media channels. In addition, sportsbooks would be prohibited from using popular marketing phrases such as “no sweat bets” or "bonus bets" in any ads.

It would also ban sportsbooks from sending push notifications or any text messages to gamblers soliciting bets or deposits. Push notifications have become a primary tool for operators seeking to maintain user engagement, delivering real-time wagering opportunities directly to mobile devices throughout the day. These notifications often arrive during live sporting events, capitalizing on the emotional investment viewers have in ongoing competitions and encouraging immediate action. The legislation would prohibit these unsolicited communications, reducing direct promotions targeting bettors, especially during games.

Credit card ban and deposit limits

Sports betting in Colorado has exploded since its inception in 2020, with gamblers betting more than $6 billion on sports in 2025. SB26-131 also ooks to address the financial infrastructure that enables rapid, repeated wagering transactions. By banning credit cards for account funding, lawmakers hope to curb impulsive betting by preventing people from wagering with borrowed money. Users would have to rely only on funds they actually have, rather than building up debt.

The bill also limits how often deposits can be made, stopping users from quickly refilling accounts after heavy losses and continuing to bet, by limiting customer deposits to five within a 24-hour period. This approach recognizes that problem gambling often involves a rapid cycle of losing, reloading, and playing again.

Together, the payment restrictions and deposit limits are meant to slow the pace of betting and create natural pause points where users can reconsider before continuing.

A silver lining for winning bettors

Sportsbooks would be barred from restricting how much or how often a customer can bet or deposit simply because the customer is winning. One of the biggest complaints regarding U.S. sportsbooks is that winning bettors often have bets limited from thousands that losing players enjoy, to just a few dollars per wager. It has been widely reported on soical madie that operators restrict profitable customers while marketing aggressively to "recreational" gamblers. Part of this bill will only allow sportsbooks to limits betttors if the activity appears suspicious or shows signs of problem gambling.

The proposed restrictions on mobile wagering in Colorado reflects growing recognition that the initial regulatory framework failed to anticipate the addictive potential of sophisticated mobile platforms and the integrity risks created by individual player props. The fundamental policy question involves determining the appropriate balance between personal freedom, consumer protection, competitive integrity, and economic considerations in gambling regulation. The bipartisan support for SB131 signals broad political concerns about current trajectories and shows overall willingness to implement meaningful restrictions despite industry opposition and potential revenue implications. The outcome of this legislative effort in Colorado will influence not only the Rocky Mountain State's gambling landscape but may be a blueprint for other jurisdictions grappling with similar challenges.