Colorado sports betting operator bonds.
From $100.
Colorado’s Sports Betting Rule 6.9 (1 CCR 207-2) requires every master, sports betting operator and internet sports betting operator licensee to keep a reserve covering what it owes bettors, and Division of Gaming Bulletin 5 accepts a surety bond as a reserve method. Premiums cost 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
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How much does a Colorado sports betting operator bond cost?
2% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
Once your finance team has sized the reserve, the bond itself is short paperwork. The one step we cannot do for you is the Director’s approval, which must come before the bond counts toward your reserve. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your company details, its type of organization and state of formation, the bond amount, and the effective date — plus a one-time consent to a soft credit pull.
Approved
Most applications clear on the spot. The soft credit pull informs approval and never affects your score. Larger amounts may get a short underwriter look before issue. Your premium is 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
Submit it for the Director’s approval
Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email. Rule 6.9 says the reserve method must be submitted to and approved by the Director of the Division of Gaming, or a designee, before it is put in place. Send the bond with your proposed reserve amount, and do not rely on it until the Division approves it.
What it is and who needs it.
What the sports betting reserve bond actually guarantees
Colorado’s sports betting law sits in Part 15 of the Limited Gaming Act, and it tells the Limited Gaming Control Commission that its licensing rules must address a licensee’s financial responsibility (C.R.S. 44-30-1503(1)(a)). Among the Commission’s rules, Sports Betting Rule 6.9 requires every master, sports betting operator, and internet sports betting operator licensee to have available, at all times, sufficient financial reserves to pay the bets it accepts. The reserve must cover the licensee’s outstanding liability, which the rule defines as the sum of player account balances, bets accepted on events whose outcomes are not yet determined, and winnings owed but unpaid.
Rule 6.9 itself lists cash or cash equivalents kept apart from operating funds, an irrevocable letter of credit, and payment processor reserves and receivables. The Division of Gaming’s Sports Betting Industry Bulletin 5 (April 22, 2020), which clarifies Rule 6.9, adds surety bonds to that list, alone or combined with the other methods. So the bond is an accepted option, not a mandate: a licensee that holds its whole reserve in cash or a letter of credit needs no bond. Either way, the proposed reserve amount and the method must go to the Director, or the Director’s designee, for approval before the reserve is put in place.
Bulletin 5 spells out what the bond must say. It names the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission as obligee, states the amount and your license type, and says it is kept under Rule 6.9 to cover outstanding sports wagering liability. It runs for at least one year and can be extended a year at a time by continuation certificate. If the Director demands payment, you hand over an updated list of what you owe patrons, the obligee starts its review within 24 hours, payments begin within five business days, and all issue within 30 days. Only the obligee can sue on the bond. Bulletin 5 does not address repayment, but as with any surety bond, if a claim is paid you repay the surety. Your premium is 2% of the amount you bond, $100 minimum, after a soft credit pull that never affects your score.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The term is set on the carrier’s application; the premium covers the period shown there.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
Submit it for the Director’s approval. Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email. Rule 6.9 says the reserve method must be submitted to and approved by the Director of the Division of Gaming, or a designee, before it is put in place. Send the bond with your proposed reserve amount, and do not rely on it until the Division approves it.
What sets the price
The premium is 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, priced at checkout.
These are the actual underwriting fields, including your organization type, state of formation, and a one-time consent to a soft credit pull. The pull never affects your score, and your price, 2% of the bond amount with a $100 minimum, is set at application.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Colorado bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, .
Cover your player-funds reserve without idle cash.
2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, soft pull only. Enter the part of the reserve you want bonded and send it to the Division of Gaming for approval. Free until issued.