Michigan mixes with big market players in sports betting and online gaming

Michigan is emerging as a top market within the US for sports betting and online gaming

A jam packed few months in 2021 has positioned Michigan as one of the country’s top states in sports betting and online gaming.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board has released a report that states that sports betting operators generated $9.5million in total gross sports betting receipts with a handle of $301.9million in bets.

The betting handle represents a major increase, when compared to the previous month, of 162% as January’s betting handle amounted to $115.2million.

Michigan Gaming Control Board Executive Director, Richard Kalm, said that Michigan residents are clearly showing interest in sports betting and the industry will continue to help state funding:

“Michigan residents and visitors continued to show strong interest in internet gaming and sports betting during a snowy and cold February. The internet gaming taxes more than tripled, but that’s what we expected with a full month of gaming. This means more funding for the City of Detroit, K-12 education, economic development and tribal communities.”

Sports books are proving to be the number one choice for Michigan residents as when adding retail sports betting inside casinos, sports books took in a huge handle of $325.6million for February.

These totals have pushed Michigan to become the fifth largest market in the US, overtaking Indiana who handled $273.9million in February.
The other top states in the country such as New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Illinois are yet to report their February handles. It would be surprising to see Michigan overtake these states but the Great Lakes State is certainly mixing it with the big market players.

Jessica Welman, PlayMichigan.com analyst, thinks Michigan always had the potential to become a top 5 state:

‘Michigan has long had the potential to be a top five market, but its rapid ascent shows just how much pent-up demand was unleashed. As exciting as the early returns are, though, we’re still in a period where enthusiasm is in part a product of legal betting still being novel. That said, there is no reason to believe that the market’s growth will stop after enthusiasm normalises.’

FanDuel led the way for sports betting in Michigan, handling $87.2million. This was another increase when compared to January which saw a handle of $32.6million.

In relation to internet gaming, operators generated $79.9million after earning $29.4million in the last few days in January.

Online casino gaming and poker revenues in Michigan has placed it among the top players in the market, competing with the likes of New Jersey ($103.8million) and Pennsylvania ($80.4million) with their January figures.

Operators in Michigan have recently delivered approximately $14.1million in taxes and payments in February to the state.

Source:MizBiz

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