(The Center Square) – Sports betting in Colorado garnered over $526.6 million in wagers in October, according to the state's latest data. 

That's an increase of 17 percent from September when $450 million was wagered, the Colorado Division of Gaming said. The October amount is also up 7.2 percent from October 2021, when $491.4 million was bet. 

Professional football continues to be the top sport by total wagers, the state's data shows. A combined $171.63 million was wagered across retail and online options. That's good enough for 32 percent of wagers by sport.

Basketball ($85.6 million), NCAA football ($50.4 million), baseball ($42 million), and tennis ($24.4 million) rounded out the top five sports for October. 

“Taxes collected by the state in October 2022 were 87 percent higher than taxes collected last year same period, October 2021,” the Division of Gaming said in a press release.  “In October 2022, taxes from sports betting wagers totaled $2,330,705, representing a 22.03 percent decrease over the prior month, September 2022, of $2,989,342.” 

Sports betting has been legal in the state of Colorado since May 2020 after voters approved Proposition DD. The measure directs most of the state's revenue from sports betting to the state's water projects.