Michiganders love to gamble and, for years, the state missed out on all the revenue that it could have been earning from the gaming industry. Michigan has a few land-based casinos that have contributed to the local economy, but sports gambling and iGaming were missing from the equation. That changed this year, however, and the response has been more than significant. In less than four months, Michigan’s sports gambling and iGaming markets have reported total gross gaming revenue (GGR) of well over $1 billion.
April Pushes Michigan Over the Top
Michigan has become the quickest state to reach $1 billion in online sports gambling. This was achieved with the help of March Madness, which contributed a handle of $359.5 million, and April. Although last month’s handle dropped, with no major sports events taking place, there was still $249.9 million in bets placed. Michigan just turned on its online sports gambling segment this past January, almost right at the same time it greenlighted its iGaming segment.
The drop in April led operators to see their revenue drop, coming in at $20.4 million. FanDuel performed the best, reporting a handle of $74.2 million and $7 million in gross receipts. DraftKings followed with a $61.5-million handle and BetMGM was next at $54.9 million. The results were good enough to give the state $312,824 in taxes and payments for April, but there’s more tax revenue to be had. Industry analyst Matt Schoch points out, “Tax revenue is still a concern, and we will likely have to wait until football season to see significant growth in sports betting again.”
Michigan iGaming Continues Its Run
Last month, Michigan’s iGaming segment produced $94.85 million in receipts, a drop from the $95.1 million reported a month earlier. For the operators in the space, this meant a combined revenue of about $3.16 million, while the state picked up $17.8 million in taxes and payments. In total, between online sports gambling and iGaming, Michigan earned over $18 million from the online gaming industry in the state for the month of April.
Should the trend continue, Michigan stands to benefit from one of the more robust gaming markets in the US, even if the spor 7BALL ts gambling segment might need some time to grow. Another gaming analyst, Jessica Welman, asserts, “Sports betting gets the lion’s share of attention, but it will take years for Michigan’s sportsbooks to reach the kind of revenue that online casinos are already producing. In addition, online casinos aren’t susceptible to the same seasonal ebb and flow as sports betting. That said, $1 billion in less than four months of online sports betting is no minor feat, either.”
