The fine was levied Thursday during the monthly meeting after the sportsbook and Colorado regulators reached an agreement on the violation.

Colorado’s gamble on sports betting

Fanatics also agreed to audit its self-exclusion list to determine whether other people on the list were sent marketing promotions by text message between Jan. 1, 2024, and March 1, 2026, according to  which was approved by the commission.

Fanatics will also train its staff members, who work as VIP liaisons, on the state's self-exclusion rules, the agreement stated.

Colorado's self-exclusion list allows gamblers to enroll themselves for periods of one, three or five years, during which they are barred from online sports betting and gambling companies are supposed to stop sending them marketing materials. There are more than 1,200 people on that list.

The self-exclusion list was created as a response to concerns about rising gambling addiction since online sports betting became legal in Colorado in 2020.

Fanatics stated in October 2025 that it "will not intentionally market to any known self-excluded individuals" when it submitted its responsible gaming plan to state regulators.

However, a Colorado customer who placed himself on the state's self-exclusion list on Jan. 15 was contacted twice by a Fanatics VIP team member.

The former customer, identified only by his initials, received a promotional offer via text message on Feb. 1. The contact was reported, and Fanatics distributed training materials to its VIP team members on Feb. 4, the stipulation agreement said.

The customer received a second text message on Feb. 17 with another promotional offer.

Gambling companies offer VIP status to customers who bet frequently, and those promotions offer bonuses and other perks to those gamblers.

But insiders and critics of the sports betting business say those VIP memberships are offered to people who lose the most money, and the companies prey on people with potential addictions.

Danny Funt, author of "Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling," reported that VIP deals are offered to 2% to 3% of customers who account for 60% to 70% of a company's revenue.

"The perks to keep those customers loyal (and losing a staggering amount of money) are unbelievable," Funt in January. "But to qualify, a former VIP host at DraftKings told me betting *irresponsibly* is basically a requirement. 'If your money management is good, you're probably not going to end up being a VIP,' he said. Even something as basic as betting a little less than usual when you're iffy about a particular game can be disqualifying."

Fanatics previously operated in Colorado as PointsBet, which signed an agreement with the University of Colorado Boulder to spend $1.6 million to promote sports gambling on campus. That deal was following heavy criticism.

Fanatics took over in December 2023.

Wednesday marks three months since the 2026 legislative session concluded, meaning it’s a standard start date for legislation that either didn’t take effect immediately or doesn’t have a specific start date. More than 200 new laws take effect in whole or in part — a tally that would’ve been even larger were it not for Gov. Jared Polis’ record 11 vetoes this year.

Under the new laws, school districts are required . An existing tax credit, , gets a multi-year extension. Colorado gamblers can no longer use credit cards to deposit money into sports betting apps, and their deposits will be limited to six per day.

What Colorado bills are becoming laws?

A rolls into effect, requiring state agencies to more regularly examine their rules and report their findings back to lawmakers. New parents who wish to voluntarily relinquish their child to hospitals, firefighters or a community emergency center without facing a child abuse charge.

makes it a misdemeanor offense to knowingly place food or edible trash in the open "in circumstances where there is a reasonable probability of luring a wild bear." requires law enforcement to offer voluntary alcohol breath tests for drivers involved in a crash that kill or seriously injured someone else. That law is named for Magnus White, a cyclist who was struck and killed in Boulder County in 2023.

Here are some of the other laws taking effect Wednesday:

Social media search warrants

In the wake of a 2025 veto and the subsequent shooting at Evergreen High School in Jefferson County, Colorado lawmakers this year passed . The law requires social media companies with more than 1 million monthly users to set up "streamlined" processes for law enforcement to contact the companies about search warrants. The companies are also generally required to comply with search warrants within 72 hours and to provide regular updates about the warrants' status.

Polis vetoed a more sweeping version of the bill, which included other regulations on social media companies, last year, and he also vetoed another version of SB 11 after the legislative session adjourned in May.

Lawmakers had vowed to bring back the 2025 proposal even before the Evergreen shooting, in which two students were wounded and the shooter died by suicide. After the September 2025 shooting, law enforcement said the social media companies were slow to produce information about the shooter's online profiles, which included posts idolizing of other mass shooters.

Slowing scams of vulnerable adults

Under , banks in Colorado can now delay providing funds to vulnerable adults, meaning those over the age of 70 or who are otherwise "susceptible to mistreatment or self-neglect" because of their health status. The law is aimed at blunting financial scams that often target older adults, which frequently include prompting victims to withdraw large sums of money at once.

The bipartisan law also requires certain bank employees to report potential exploitation to law enforcement or other local authorities.

Protections for Colorado ag products

Counterfeit Palisade peaches' days are numbered.

Under , only agricultural products actually grown in Colorado can be identified and advertised as Colorado-raised. It also prohibits companies or growers from using the "Colorado Proud" designation or logo -- a program of the state Department of Agriculture -- unless the ag agency gives them permission.

Violations of the law are a deceptive trade practice, which can be investigated by the state attorney general's office.

New safety requirements for ride-hailing companies

For the second year, lawmakers weighed new safety requirements for ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft. implements a number of new rules, including specific background check rules, amid . Many of those new requirements don't kick in until Jan. 1.

But as of Wednesday, the companies will be required to review drivers who have been the subject of a complaint, either from a rider or from the state Public Utilities Commission. That review may lead to the driver's suspension from the app. The companies will also be required to conduct these deactivation reviews if they're notified by law enforcement that the driver has "serious felony allegations," House Democrats said in a news release. That includes charges of sexual misconduct or stalking.

Affordable housing

The first bill introduced in the upper chamber this year, gives county and municipal governments the authority to sell their buildings and other property -- other than parks -- if the land is going to be used for affordable housing or another identified local housing need.

The bipartisan law also gives county commissioners the ability to use certain local tax revenue for workforce housing and other housing programs.

Discrimination in schools

Amid the Trump administration's gutting of the U.S. Department of Education, expands Colorado's existing anti-discrimination laws to include discriminatory practices in K-12 schools, as well as institutions of higher education. The law prohibits excluding students from activities and programs, teaching students differently than their similar peers, and failing to take steps to stop hostile environments, among other protections.

It also expands anti-harassment rules to include students who are pregnant, and it seeks to add existing federal civil rights protections and processes for higher ed students into Colorado's statute book.

“As the Trump administration slashes funding for the federal Office of Civil Rights, the time is now to strengthen civil rights protections to protect students in Colorado," Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat who sponsored the law, said in a statement. "Our schools should be a safe place for students to learn and grow, and together we’re creating a positive learning environment for all students.”

The new rules are part of the bipartisan passed in May by the Colorado General Assembly amid growing concerns over rising addiction, especially among young men and boys. The bill’s sponsors hope the new guardrails will slow bettors, who play frequently as they chase their financial losses.

Colorado’s gamble on sports betting

The deposit limits are counted on a rolling 24-hour basis.

Sports betting companies began informing their customers this month of the rule changes.

In an email to its customers, FanDuel, one of the country's largest online gambling companies, explained the deposit limits and said some users might start seeing the changes as early as Thursday.

"Each deposit counts toward your limit for 24 hours from the time it is made," the email said. "Once 24 hours have passed, that deposit no longer counts toward your limit, allowing you to make another deposit."

Five sportsbooks stopped accepting credit cards in the past year amid growing criticism that people should not gamble with money they don’t have. Thirteen online sportsbooks are licensed to operate in Colorado.

The new law also prohibits sports betting companies from targeting Coloradans who are younger than 21 and bans advertising when the majority of an audience is reasonably expected to be younger than 21.

The law will also require sports betting operators to report annual transactional data and metrics to the Colorado Division of Gaming, starting Feb. 1, 2028, and a public report based on that data will be released every three years, beginning on Jan. 1, 2029.

"Pernicious algorithms and advertisements are increasingly preying on vulnerable online sports bettors," state Sen. Matt Ball, D-Denver, said in a news release about the law changes taking effect. "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."

Colorado's gamblers bet $6.4 billion on sports during the last year, setting a record for the amount of money wagered since sportsbooks opened in May 2020.

That amount showed a 2.3% increase over the total bet during the previous fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30, according to data from the Colorado Department of Revenue’s .

Colorado’s gamble on sports betting

Basketball was the most popular sport for Colorado gamblers, receiving $1.3 billion in bets. That category includes NBA games as well as professional basketball played overseas. NCAA basketball was the eighth most popular sport, receiving $173.6 million in wagers.

The NFL, with $853.7 million wagered, and baseball, with $548.1 million wagered, ranked second and third in popularity.

Coloradans' fondness for betting on table tennis continued with that sport receiving the fourth-highest amount gambled -- $346.4 million.

Addiction experts often cite the amount gambled on table tennis as an indicator of problem gambling because the sport is not popular in the United States, and Americans do not understand it. But it takes place throughout the year and is usually played overseas in the middle of the night in Colorado when no American sports are happening.

The tax revenue generated by sports betting also hit a milestone, raising more than $47 million for water projects. That was a 28% increase in taxes raised over the previous fiscal year.

The tax money is used for grants to restore and preserve the state's rivers and streams, assisting ranchers, anglers and others who depend on the state's limited water resources for business and recreation.

"Achieving over $47 million in tax revenue this fiscal year is a historic milestone for Colorado’s sports betting industry," the gaming division's director Christopher Schroder said in a news release. "This record-breaking performance is not just an indicator of a thriving and engaged market, but a vital engine for our state’s future."

Nuggets have contacted LeBron James in free agency, source says

— meaning a $100 bet would win $700 — that James will be playing his first regular-season minute in the 2026-27 season with the Nuggets. Denver has the fourth-best odds to land the league's all-time leading scorer.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Warriors and Cavaliers are tied as the favorites at +140, just ahead of the Miami Heat at +450. The Nuggets are followed by the 76ers (+1,200), Timberwolves (+1,500), Lakers (+2,500) and Wizards (+3,000).

James, 41, averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists for the Lakers last season. Over his 23-year career, he has been part of four championship teams, named to 22 all-star teams, and named league MVP four times.

Colorado’s public officials have a challenge before them in the next decade: preventing gambling addiction from becoming a public health crisis.

As The Post����ap Noelle Phillips described in her three-part series, when Colorado voters legalized sports betting in 2019, they put 24/7 access to online sportsbooks in the pocket of every Coloradan. The result has been $30.65 billion in wagers and a staggering $2.33 billion in losses and fees since 2020.

Despite some big wins that fueled emotional highs for Everett, he ultimately lost big to sports betting. He went into debt chasing his losses, borrowed money and a car from his father, pawned valuable possessions, and lost relationships with friends and family. Everett����ap dad stood by him through it all, pushing his son into a treatment center in another state. He has not gambled since April 2024.

“It����ap such a hidden problem,” Everett told Phillips. “You’re definitely not alone. I know how scary it is. If you do not address it, it����ap only going to get worse. You’re not going to win yourself out of whatever hole you’re in. You can’t bet yourself out of it.”

How do we prevent more Coloradans from falling into the trap of gambling addiction?

A comprehensive K-12 education program is essential to teach kids two important lessons: the house always wins and the science of a brain’s addiction to dopamine hits.

This is not a novel idea, as Phillips reported.

Arty Smith, a teacher at Kent Denver, has developed a data-driven education program that explains the probability, statistics, modeling powers and hold rates that fuel multibillion-dollar companies, guaranteeing a profit despite the “risk” associated with a wager. The Post also launched a handy tool online that analyzes data from Colorado’s sports betting corporations.

Phillips found someone who had actually made money from sports betting — beating the house consistently enough to bring in real money. Josiah Clarke said after he won $24,000 in two football seasons, FanDuel and DraftKings promptly limited his bets to less than $100. FanDuel and DraftKings told Phillips that they limit users who appear to be having problems with gambling.

Colorado’s gamble on sports betting

The are equally important for kids to understand. There is a double-whammy dopamine effect that sports wagering apps utilize to get users hooked. Some people are predisposed to having a seriously addictive response to the release of chemicals in the brain when they win, but everyone suffers the effects to some extent.

The more Colorado’s next generation understands about addiction and the statistical likelihood that the house will win, the more likely they are to enjoy gambling responsibly. We learned this lesson from nicotine addiction, where cigarette and tobacco use plummeted within a single generation, not because nicotine magically became less addictive, but because of a robust, industry-funded, anti-smoking campaign that taught children about lung cancer. When the dark secret was unveiled, the choice for millions of teenagers and young adults was easy -- smoking is not worth a shorter lifespan.

We expect a similar effect with sports betting. When Colorado kids know the tricks of the trade, they’ll make smarter decisions for the rest of their lives, whether it����ap wagering on sports, putting coins in a slot machine, buying a lottery ticket or playing bingo at the local parlor. And as a bonus, some of the knowledge of addiction might help them set their cellphones down a little more often, too.

Some industry-funded addiction groups take a neutral position on gambling that might prevent a fully transparent curriculum about industry practices and dopamine-seeking behaviors. Colorado lawmakers may need to intervene to ensure that the industry is helping to fund programs that are truly honest and actually prevent unhealthy gambling practices.

The Denver Post editorial board supported Proposition DD in 2019 and recommended that voters legalize online sports betting. The board wrote at the time: "We cannot pretend that there isn’t a dark side to this bill, however. Compulsive gambling can upend lives, ruin relationships and harm families. There will be folks who take the pastime too far, risk too much and struggle to stop the behavior that has become like a drug. The bill does include funding for gambling addiction treatment programs, but everyone is aware that will not prevent the problem."

Now, six years into this experiment, we can clearly see that the answer to prevention is an industry-funded early education program that is brutally honest about the risks and rewards of gambling.

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.

Re: “The gamble on sports betting,” June 21, news story.

Thank you very much for your series on sports gambling in Colorado. I appreciate that you used the word “gambling” rather than “gaming”, which makes it sound like a fun game of hopscotch instead of what it really is.

I wish you had clarified the “hold rate” — the massive amount of money the sports books are taking from those who wager with them. I’m sure it����ap not the same as profits (they are clearly spending a lot on advertising to hook new wagerers), but according to your graphs, it����ap over $2.33 billion of Coloradans’ money these companies are “holding.”

There are real risks associated with this explosion of gambling: to athletes, to sports, to our society. I hope sports aren’t ruined by it.

Cathy Storey, Englewood

I appreciated the well-written series on sports betting. When Gov. John Hickenlooper’s bold state water plan came out in 2015, it lacked a funding element. I was a participant in the very early conversations about a funding source. Several of us advocated for sports betting.

We had the lottery and casino gambling successfully financing state and local parks and historic preservation projects, respectively. Why not earmark gambling dollars for the critical issue of water?

However, I now harbor some regret. The money raised from sports betting is paltry ($124 million as reported) compared to the overwhelming need for better-financed water projects, and the terrible addictive nature of sports betting, as reported by The Post, is very disturbing. I hope the next governor, General Assembly, and other state and local leaders explore a better method to fund water policy and to substantively address this awful addiction.

Sam Mamet, Denver

Inside look at Tina Peters’ release from the clemency board is appreciated

Re: “Polis broke with equal justice to let Tina Peters out early,” June 21 commentary.

Thank you for the forthright commentary by Azra Taslimi and Hannah Seigel Proff, members of the governor’s Clemency Board. Their courageous report answered some sticky questions in my mind as to why Gov. Jared Polis acted in defiance of 12 jurors, numerous appeals, public opinion and 11 members of his own Clemency Board.

As a former member of the Arapahoe Community Corrections Board for 12 years, we wrestled with many of the same considerations reviewing applications for community correction. I surmised at first that Polis was acting in the best interest of Colorado by attempting to win some reprieve from some denial of funds by the federal administration.

I could not believe he was “caving” to the pressure of the president in his pseudo application of the pardon process. The authors have pointed out the inequities of the justice system far better than I can in this writing. However, why did Polis actually grant clemency to a non-contrite Tina Peters, who, upon release, bashed our democratic election system? That question remains.

Philip Arreola, Denver

My fears were reinforced with the article by Azra Taslimi and Hannah Seigel Proff. Thank you. I voted twice and enthusiastically for Polis. However, in the last couple of years I have wondered where he was and what happened to him?

I consider him an intelligent person. When he let this dangerous woman out of jail, I wondered how he had been threatened or, perhaps, bought. Is it his disappointment over not getting his fancy bridge across downtown Denver? I don’t get it. I have credentials of my own and 80 years of life experience behind me. This awful woman is dangerous to our precious and wounded democracy. Is Polis planning to run for president as a Republican? Someone, please, enlighten me.

Karen Baum, Lakewood

I totally agree with Azra Taslimi about Gov. Polis giving Tina Peters clemency. What����ap that all about? Of all the people to forgive, she is not worthy and certainly not sorry about the absolute lies she told and is still telling. What is he thinking, granting her an unwarranted clemency! He’s made a few decisions lately that are questionable in my opinion, like vetoing a limit on credit card fees and a bill that would have provided benefits to firefighters who develop certain cancers not already recognized as occupational hazards. It����ap a good thing this is his last term.

Cathi Barnes, Littleton

Solar panels belong in many places, including covering canals

Re: “California might have a solution for its water; clean power needs,” June 23 news story.

I read with great interest the story about California considering covering its irrigation canals with solar panels. They are proposing this for two reasons: one to generate electricity while not taking usable agricultural land out of production, and two to create shade over the water to thereby reduce evaporation and conserve water.

I’d like to take that concept a little farther (and I hope our city council members are reading this). How about for every new sizable parking lot that is built for a project, say the new King Soopers on South Colorado Blvd, a requirement is made to cover that parking with solar panels. This achieves similar results as the California proposal, generating clean electricity and providing a cooling effect by shading the otherwise black, hot asphalt parking lot. I, for one, would seek out businesses that provided shaded parking lots.

Mark Geyer, Denver

The most ironic part about the article on covering irrigation canals with solar panels is that it is a new idea. I am not an agronomist, but it has been apparent to me for years that we are woefully behind the times in our approach to saving water and maximizing the benefit of our abundant natural resource — the sun.

In the same issue of the paper, we saw animals seeking shade in the shadow of structures. We already know some parking lots have provided shade with solar panels, which conceivably could provide energy for charging stations for electric vehicles. Shouldn’t new data centers and large fulfillment centers be required to harness the sun to solve problems?

Candidates for public office, this is a huge issue that is getting lost in all the clamor about gas prices, reflecting pools, etc. Like in California, we in Colorado need to press forward with public/ private partnerships that utilize our abundant sun to save water and power the grid. Imagine all our baking asphalt parking lots shaded and creating electricity at the same time.

A. Lynn Buschhoff, Denver

Don’t accidentally take Vespas off the roads with regulation

Re:  “Curbs on motorized vehicles, scooters,” June 24 news story.

Recently, I restored a 1970 Vespa, converted it to electric, and registered it as a low-powered scooter. It’s a wonderful way to get around town. Due to generous low-powered scooter laws in Colorado, I can often beat traffic by driving responsibly in bike lanes (not trails!) and lane filtering. And parking is a breeze!

On June 23rd, Douglas County passed a regulation to attempt to control reckless driving. I agree that irresponsible drivers using high-powered e-bikes and other vehicles dangerously is something we need to rein in. However, this ordinance, as communicated, unnecessarily targets low-powered scooters in ways other counties and sustainable transportation advocates should take note of.

My concern is that low-powered scooters driven according to existing state laws are part of our solution to the Front Range’s growing traffic and environmental problems, not a part of the problem. By lumping low-powered scooters with non-street-legal vehicles and improper driving behavior, we send a concerning message to potential users of alternative transportation.

Education and awareness (as required by current state law) are needed for us to better understand the rights and responsibilities of different forms of transportation. We create confusion with statements on government websites like “under current state law, these vehicles are not street legal” when referring to both off-highway and low-powered scooters.

Colorado is a great place to own a Vespa. I love that when I drive, I always get a smile or a conversation.  As quoted in Disney’s Luca: “Vespa è libertà” (Vespa is liberty!).

David Porcaro, Broomfield

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.

The bulk of the money — nearly $1.3 million — has been spent on Democratic primaries, with a smaller amount spent in Republican races. The Democratic spending has flowed from American Future, a vaguely named state-level political action committee that has reported just one donor — that, in turn, has been bankrolled exclusively by . That super PAC has received $43 million in donations from DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics.

Colorado’s gamble on sports betting

Without federal campaign finance reports, it would otherwise be unclear which interests were paying for the mailers and advertisements distributed under American Future's name.

The ads , and contains only vague allusions to Democratic-adjacent policy positions. The state PAC's description of itself provides no clarity, either, detailing its purpose as "supporting Colorado state legislative candidates who focus on pressing issues facing everyday people."

The industry's campaign spending comes barely a month after state lawmakers passed , a first-in-the-nation law that was sharply opposed by the sports-betting industry. The measure, signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis on June 1, limits the number of daily deposits a gambler can make and bans push notifications intended to solicit bets or deposits, among other new regulations.

The spending has not targeted the bill's sponsors, none of whom face primary opponents later this month, and has even supported some lawmakers who voted in favor of SB-131. The companies' PACs have donated to candidates across the political spectrum, including in some races with a clear favorite.

Other groups have been spending big in statehouse primaries this year, with much of it continuing a battle to tilt the Democratic majority in a more moderate or progressive direction.

The sports-betting-aligned state PAC reported nearly $215,000 in donations from its parent group as of June 15, along with $282,000 in spending. But in the weeks since then, it's posted hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional spending, bringing its total spending in Democratic primaries to nearly $1.3 million as of Monday afternoon, according to campaign finance records.

Final totals won't be clear until after June 30, which is primary election day.

On the GOP side, American Conservative Fund, which has also received money exclusively from Win for America, has donated $250,000 to a state-level PAC supporting Republican statehouse candidates. That PAC is funded by other outside business groups as well.

Like its Democratic counterpart, lists several Republican-sounding buzzwords among its priorities, with no additional information about its backers.

Messages sent to the three gambling companies were not returned Monday. Nathan Click, a spokesman for American Future, referred The Post to a previous statement, first sent to Axios in April. In that statement, the PAC said it was seeking candidates "who will thoughtfully approach regulation and ensure legal sports betting can continue to support communities through billions in tax revenue and jobs across America."

But the ubiquitous spread of sports betting has raised significant regulator interest amid growing fears about problem gambling, The Denver Post reported in a recent special series.

Since Colorado voters legalized the practice in 2020, residents have wagered more than $30.6 billion on games and athletes. More than $154 million has been collected in taxes, much of it for water-focused preservation and conservation projects. At the same time, more than 45,000 people in the state have called a hotline set up for gamblers who may need help, and 1,245 are now on the self-exclusion list that bans them from betting for at least five years.

Sen. Matt Ball, a Denver Democrat who sponsored SB-131 earlier this year, said he wasn't surprised the industry was getting directly involved in campaigns. He said the industry did not like SB-131 and had been active in several other states. that the federal PAC planned to spend money in as many as 15 states by November

Ball said he'd heard that lawmakers backing sports-betting regulations in other states had faced threats that the industry would back their primary opponents. But none of SB-131's sponsors has a primary challenger this year, and the Democratic primaries in which the companies' PACs are participating are in mostly safe blue seats located in the metro Denver.

"I'm not surprised that they're spending this directly," Ball said — but how they're spending has surprised him.

"Some of it is a little hard to read," he said. "I don't understand why they are spending in the races they are spending in, because they are spending in races across the political spectrum."

On the Democratic side, the money has been spent on roughly a dozen primary candidates, most of them running for soon-to-be-empty seats.

The PAC cannot coordinate with candidates' campaigns, and it's unclear why the gambling PAC chose the candidates that it did. While several Democratic hopefuls are moderates and have been backed by other outside business interests, at least two are progressives endorsed by the left-wing Working Families Party. Some are in contentious races, while others are comfortable favorites.

The two Working Families Party-endorsed candidates, Justine Sandoval and Gena Ozols, have both released statements on social media noting that the mailers came from an outside group that wasn't authorized by their campaigns.

Sandoval, who is running for a Denver-based House seat and has received more support from the sports-betting PAC than nearly any other candidate, said she was unfamiliar with the group's backers until recently.

Her campaign has raised $25,000 — more than $100,000 less than what American Future has spent to support her from the outside against primary opponent Sterling Thomas Simms. Sandoval said she was generally opposed to unrestricted outside spending.

She met with DraftKing's lobbyist in March or April, and the lobbyist was "curious" about her position on sports betting. She wasn't opposed to gambling, she said, but was concerned about it being unregulated. She didn't hear anything else from the group.

Then the mailers and advertisements started flowing.

Sandoval figured that the group was backing her because its leaders thought she'd win. She also noted that the district she hopes to represent, House District 5, will soon include all three of Denver's largest sports venues if the Broncos build a stadium in Burnham Yard.

"So, there's some kind of investment thought there," she said.

Ball speculated that the spending was a "goodwill" donation in support of candidates who are either likely to win in contested races or don't have a serious primary challenge at all. Three of the Democratic candidates that American Future is supporting are incumbents seeking a return to office. While they each have primary challengers, all are expected to comfortably win their contests later this month. And all three voted in favor of SB-131.

State Sen. Adrienne Benavidez, who has received more than $150,000 in outside support from American Future, said she wasn't familiar with the group or its funders until informed by a reporter Monday morning. She said she'd never had contact with the PAC or the companies supporting it.

She welcomed support from anyone, she said, and was pleased that the ads had been positive support for her, rather than negative against her opponent, Alex Ryckman.

"It was totally out of the blue," said Benavidez, who previously served in the House before earning a vacancy appointment to the Senate earlier this year. "I don't know anything about them. The contributions coming from those companies — I was not aware until you just told me that. I've never had any contact with them, I know nothing."

Updated at 9:56 a.m. June 21, 2026: This article was updated to include additional campaign spending by American Future.

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 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 , 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.

The gameday bets — putting a little money on the line — are all part of the fun of football Sundays, said Joe Canales, a family friend who joined the tailgate.

“We all get excited when somebody wins,” he said.

Legalized sports betting is changing the face of sports and fandom in Colorado as people wager billions annually on games and on the athletes who play them. In the six years since voters approved Proposition DD, the state’s gamblers have wagered more than $30.6 billion on sports, averaging $425 million a month.

For years, sports betting was taboo within the professional leagues as commissioners and team owners kept gambling at arm’s length for fear of scandal. Now, leagues and teams promote their partnerships with gambling companies. Fans watching games on TV are inundated with sports-betting ads, and those in the stands can see gambling companies’ names painted on courts and fields.

Bettors often care more about individual athletes’ performances than about their hometown teams as they wager on how many three-point shots a basketball player will make or how many touchdowns a quarterback might throw, multiple people told The Denver Post. Athletes feel the pressure, whether it’s because they receive angry messages on social media from people who lose money or from gamblers seeking an edge from inside information.

Legalized gambling is also threatening the integrity of sports, with fans fearing athletes, coaches and referees may alter calls or plays to influence the outcomes of bets. Just before the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament kicked off, Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, that found a majority of Americans — almost 60% — believe sports betting affects the integrity of college basketball.

“It����ap ruining the relationship between a player and their sport, and it����ap ruining the relationship between fandom and the athletes,” said Montee Ball, a former Broncos running back who leads the , which focuses on athletes’ mental health.

All of that is forcing coaches and administrators to incorporate gambling and mental health awareness into athletes’ training, with education now starting as early as high school for athletes in Colorado.

In the past six years, sports betting scandals have rocked professional and college leagues, ensnaring Colorado athletes such as hometown basketball legend Chauncey Billups, who was implicated last fall as an unnamed co-conspirator in a rigged NBA betting scheme.

This story, which examines how gambling is changing sports, is the third in The Post’s series about legalized sports betting’s impact on Colorado. The first story looked at an alarming rise in gambling addiction, while the second installment covered how sports wagering’s tax revenue benefits water projects in Colorado.

Sports betting has existed in America as long as athletes have laced up their high-top sneakers. In the past, gamblers sought bookies in secret to place bets, collect winnings and pay debts. Gamblers turned to offshore sportsbooks once the internet became accessible.

Now, sports fans place bets from their phones, often in the middle of games, thanks to a that overturned the , allowing states to set their own laws regulating sports betting. Colorado acted quickly, putting the question to a ballot referendum in November 2019; voters allowed sportsbooks to open for business in May 2020.

And, almost as quickly, Denver’s professional sports teams announced business deals with gambling companies.

An evolving relationship

Just a little more than a decade ago, the was so antagonistic toward sports gambling that the league’s commissioner threatened to suspend Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo over his plans to attend that was being organized by a company he owned.

The NFL prohibited players from participating in any event sponsored by a gambling-related company, and the league so narrowly defined gambling that fantasy football was included, even though those games pit people against each other rather than the house, which keeps the profits.

Players are still not allowed to bet on the NFL, play daily fantasy games or visit sportsbooks during football season. But the league and team owners have embraced sports betting.

Denver’s major sports teams are reluctant to talk about those new business relationships, with every professional team as well as the University of Colorado Boulder and its football coach Deion Sanders declining The Post’s interview requests.

The Broncos and the Colorado Rockies sent prepared statements via email, declaring that they follow the rules while protecting their players and the games’ integrity.

“In compliance with the NFL’s gambling policy, all members of our organization undergo comprehensive training on the subject,” the statement from Broncos spokesman Patrick Smyth said. “For players, this includes mandatory in-person education as well as in-season communication and other resources from the team and league.”

The Broncos inked their first business deal with sports-betting app in June 2020 — one month after Colorado’s sportsbooks opened for business.  The team also partnered that summer with , which opened a now-shuttered luxury lounge inside the stadium, and . Today, BetMGM is the team’s lone sports-betting partner.

The Colorado Rockies partner with Denver-based , allowing the company to have a sign on the outfield wall.

also partners with bet365 as a sponsor for the and . That , which allows bet365’s logo to be placed under the Avalanche’s ice and on the Nuggets’ baseline, is in place through the 2028-2029 season.

Courtney Brunious, an assistant professor at the , said he was not surprised Denver’s teams did not want to talk about their business relationships with gambling companies.

“There’s still a certain stigma attached to it,” said Brunious, who teaches sports business. “It’s still — I don’t want to say an uneasy relationship — but it’s an ongoing and evolving partnership. It’s not necessarily something they want to put a spotlight on.”

The gambling companies are eager to associate with professional sports because it puts their names in front of enthusiastic fans, Brunious said. The teams benefit from sports gambling because people who bet money on games are more likely to watch them on television, boosting coveted audience numbers.

The sure thing, Brunious said, is that those relationships will not dissolve. There’s too much money at stake.

“It’s not going away,” he said. “It����ap going to require adjustments to make sure all parties are protected as much as possible.”

The sports teams and betting companies are entwined with each other’s success.

Every decision a team makes is analyzed by gamblers and can move a betting line up or down, changing the fortunes of those who wager and those who make money off of it.

When the Los Angeles Rams on June 1 traded for reigning defensive player of the year Myles Garrett, that team became Las Vegas oddsmakers’ favorite to win the next Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the odds for Garrett’s former team, the Cleveland Browns, dropped to 200-to-1 from 115-to-1, according to a news release from Circa Sports.

Peter Jackson, the chief executive officer of , FanDuel’s parent company, explained in a February how “player narratives” impact his company’s revenue. When the NFL’s most popular players are not in the playoffs, the fans bet less money, he said.

“There was one player we had on our books over the course of the year that had more money bet on him in the course of the season than the Pats did,” Jackson said, without naming the player. “This player stuff is super important, and when we don’t have those key players making the playoffs or the Super Bowl, it really does impact player engagement and betting volumes.”

Pressure and harassment

Players are well aware that fans’ interest in their performance is more intense when money is on the line.

They already face performance anxiety because players are super competitive and want to win, said Ball, who played for the Broncos during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Professional athletes also know that an injury or a bad game can cost them playing time and shorten their careers. Now, they also have pressure from fans who want to win money by betting on whether they throw a touchdown pass or catch an interception.

“The athletes can’t escape it,” Ball said. “They shouldn’t have to turn everything off because John is screaming on Twitter, ‘I hope you tear your ACL.’ ”

Athletes in all sports are reporting an increase in harassment since sports betting became legal.

Nuggets guard Bruce Brown brought it up on Oct. 23 in the wake of an NBA sports-betting scandal, telling reporters, “Obviously, after every game, we get DMs about not hitting people’s parlays. There’s been games where I’ve been called every name in the book, just because I didn’t hit a three or two. I mean, that����ap just the state of the game we’re in, since sports betting got legal. So I mean, just kind of deal with it. Not think about it. Don’t check your DMs after games.”

Cory Fox, senior vice president of public policy and sustainability at FanDuel, said the company banishes gamblers from its app if they are caught harassing athletes. The other legalized sports books have similar policies.

“First and foremost, we find the harassment of athletes abhorrent,” Fox said.

In June 2025, FanDuel who heckled Gabby Thomas, an Olympic gold medalist in track. The fan, who goes by “Mr100kaday” and describes himself as “The Track and Field Bully,” posted a video of himself hurling insults as Thomas signed autographs and claimed that his heckling caused Thomas to lose the race and allowed him to win a $1,000 parlay bet.

FanDuel is working with sports leagues to develop a process to identify and investigate harassers so they can be banned from the app, Fox said.

“It’s also true there has been an increase in bad behavior,” he said. “This is something we’ve seen globally and it has a lot of factors involved.”

Temptation lurks

There is another dark side to sports gambling — rigged performances.

A major betting scandal rocked the NBA in October when the Terry Rozier, a former Charlotte Hornets point guard, who stands accused of participating in an illegal sports-betting scheme using inside NBA knowledge to defraud sportsbooks and for checking out of a game early to benefit bettors. He has .

And the city of Denver was shocked when Billups, who was then the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was linked to the Rozier scandal as an apparent unindicted co-conspirator. Billups was also for allegedly participating in a Mafia-backed illegal poker scheme to defraud unwitting players during card games. He has also pleaded not guilty.

Other sports-betting scandals involving athletes with Colorado ties:

• Denver Broncos defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended for the 2023 season for gambling on NFL games, including five involving the Broncos
• Colorado Rapids midfielder Max Alves was removed from the team in 2023 in the wake of a match-fixing investigation in his home country of Brazil
• Jontay Porter, the brother of former Nuggets starter Michael Porter Jr., was banned from the NBA in 2024 after he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors about his health and limited his participation in one or more games for betting purposes while playing for the Toronto Raptors

Sports betting scandals are almost as old as sports themselves. Think of the Black Sox scandal during the 1919 World Series, when multiple team members conspired with professional gamblers to throw games.

, who played in the NBA for eight years and overseas for three, said gambling is part of the culture for professional athletes.

During his 11 years of pro ball, teammates would bet on anything — trick shots during practice, card games on the road, even which referees would call a playoff game, Funderburke said. It’s the nature of being competitive and confident.

“You’re taught at an early age to bet on yourself,” he said. “You’ve overcome the odds, right? Little League, high school, college, now in the NBA, you’re playing against the best in the world. You always feel like you can overcome the odds. And with athletes, they feel like they can win at just about anything.”

Funderburke, who now works as a financial adviser, speaks out against gambling and tells his clients there are better things to do with their money. He traveled to Colorado in May to encourage lawmakers to pass a bill that would establish guardrails on sports betting in an attempt to curb addiction rates.

“Here’s the problem with the culture,” he said. “Most of the guys that I know — and I won’t say names — who had issues with gambling, not only end up having financial constraints and issues, but their marriages and their families deteriorate at the same time, which I think is much worse than any type of financial problems.”

The professional leagues and universities know the temptation is there and they are working to combat it.

But they are not always successful.

The controversy surrounding Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby serves as the latest example.

‘A source of heartburn’

Days before the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, sent a warning to all of its athletes: Sports betting is against the rules.

“It is still to a large degree one of the worst violations you can have,” said , CSU’s associate athletic director for compliance. “With sports wagering, the door pretty much gets shut down. Like a positive drug test too many times, your eligibility is just shot.”

However, the Sorsby case upended that policy for college football.

Sorsby made thousands of impermissible bets worth at least $90,000 on college and pro sports, including some on his team when he was a freshman at the University of Indiana. The NCAA suspended Sorsby after he was caught and admitted to gambling, but he sued in an attempt to play his senior season.

A Texas judge ruled June 8 through a temporary injunction that Sorsby should be allowed to play during the upcoming season after serving a two-game suspension. The ruling could overturn NCAA rules, and it propelled college football into uncertainty as to what happens if other student-athletes bet on their own games.

The decision undermined a longstanding NCAA policy that forbids college athletes from gambling on sports and bans them if they’re caught betting on their own teams.

College sports are rapidly changing, with athletes able to earn money from their schools, booster clubs, television commercials and social media feeds. They have more money in their pockets now — in some cases, millions of dollars, Siemer said. The temptation to bet on sports lurks, he said, especially for high-level athletes who believe they know more about their sport than anyone else and can predict wins and losses on sports-betting apps.

“That’s a source of heartburn for us,” he said. “We don’t want to legislate morality, but they have more money now than when they just had a scholarship, and we want them to be smart with it.”

Every student-athlete signs a gambling agreement, acknowledging that they cannot place bets and cannot provide insider information to others, Siemer said.

Each year, CSU brings in experts to talk to students about the risks of gambling and to educate them on the NCAA’s rules that prohibit gambling. The athletics department wants them to understand how important it is that they do not leak tips about injuries or game strategies to others, who might benefit from the inside knowledge, Siemer said.

Last year, a presentation to students revealed just how much money was bet on each sport during a single season, and while Siemer said he could not remember the specifics, he recalled that it was “jaw-dropping.”

While football is the most popular sport for gamblers who bet on CSU sports, other teams also see healthy amounts of wagers, he said.

“I think the presumption is everyone is betting on football,” Siemer said. “Well, it’s not just football. It’s all of the sports. These sports-betting companies will put a line on anything. It doesn’t matter. Women’s tennis. Women’s soccer. The presumption that it’s all on football and basketball should be put to bed.”

Nip it in the bud

Aside from talking to athletes about the pitfalls of gambling, the leagues and teams are turning to professional monitors for help. The NCAA’s major conferences contract with , a company that specializes in sports compliance and integrity.

Matt Heap, a former deputy director, manages IC360’s , a program that monitors betting among athletes at more than 150 universities and more than 25 professional sports leagues.

“That monitors every game, every goal, every pitch,” he said.

Prohibet coordinates with sportsbooks to detect irregular gambling patterns, Heap said. The colleges also provide identifying information — dates of birth, driver’s licenses, phone numbers — on every student-athlete, making it easier to detect prohibited bets. Prohibet also monitors coaches, trainers, administrators and referees to identify irregular betting patterns.

The program can even find crossover bets from different internet addresses that can connect student-athletes to accounts owned by friends and family, he said. Word is spreading among college athletes that they can get caught, he said.

“It nips it in the bud,” Heap said. “The ones that continue to do it and push it are the ones they need to keep an eye on.”

IC360 also works with NCAA athletic departments to educate athletes on the rules surrounding gambling and to warn them about the pitfalls surrounding them. Even telling a friend, family member or classmate about a team member’s injury can sway bets, Heap said.

“Something that seems as innocent or innocuous as that can be the first sign someone is trying to get a hook into a player,” he said. “You guys are targets because someone who wants to manipulate a game outcome has to have a player, a ref or some other game official.”

Those who work with athletes believe education about sports betting must start at a younger age.

Last year, the paired with the to start a gambling awareness program for high school athletes.

CHSAA officials wanted players, parents and coaches to understand the rules and the consequences of violating them, commissioner Mike Krueger said. It’s becoming a national issue at the high school level.

Legal sportsbooks don’t take wagers on high school sports because it is prohibited by state laws, but offshore betting sites accept those wagers, as do emerging prediction markets. People must be 21 to open a legal sports betting account in the U.S., but young people access them through family members and older friends.

“It’s recognizing the reality,” Krueger said. “That’s where we’ve got to have the awareness. While sports betting continues to expand across our society, our responsibility remains unchanged. We look at it as a student well-being issue and not just around rules enforcement.”

READ MORE FROM THIS SPECIAL REPORT: Colorado’s gamble on sports betting