One Month In, Michigan's Sports Betting Market Is Already A Big Boon For Casinos

Michigan was expected to be one of the largest states for sports betting in the country after launching in 2021, and the figures from the first full month of online sports betting support the early predictions.

Michigan Sports Betting, One Month In: The figures from the first full month of February show $301.9 million in online sports bets were placed in the Great Lakes State, according to PlayMichigan.com.

The figures from the state make Michigan the sixth state to reach $300 million in a month. Michigan became the quickest state to hit the $300-million mark.

The strength of sports betting in the state is helping offset what was expected to be a loss of tax revenue from the land-based casinos in Detroit.

The three Detroit non-tribal casinos paid $14.6 million to the city of Detroit in February 2021, which was a 1% increase from February 2020.

The online sports betting segment is helping to make up for a 30% year-over-year reduction in tax payments for the slots and table games segments. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, wagering taxes were the No. 3 revenue source for the Detroit general fund, according to the Detroit Free Press. 

Sports Betting Winners And Losers: The state of Michigan is expected to be one of the largest sports betting market, and that has brought lots of interest from online sports betting companies. A total of 12 operators are approved for online sports betting in the state. 

FanDuel, a unit of Flutter Entertainment PDYPY, led the state of Michigan in February with $87.2 million in online sports bets placed. This followed the company’s lead in the partial month of January as well.

BetMGM, which is 50% owned by MGM Resorts International MGM, came in second place for February with $75.7 million in online sports bets placed. MGM ranked fourth in the month of January.

DraftKings DKNG ranked third in February with $72.9 million in wagers placed; the company ranked second in January.

Barstool Sportsbook from Penn National Gaming PENN came in fourth place with $40.3 million in wagers placed. The company was also fourth in the partial month of January.

There was a significant drop from fourth place to fifth place, going from $40.3 million to $7 million in bets placed.

In February, Pointsbet accounted for $7 million in bets; Wynn Resorts WYNN, $7 million; William Hill, $5.6 million; Rush Street Interactive RSI, $3.6 million; Fox FOX, $3.6 million; TwinSpires, $1.9 million; and Golden Nugget Online Gaming GNOG, $498,000.

Michigan reported $79.7 million in online casino and poker receipts for the month of February.

The state could quickly become the second or third largest state in this market segment. MGM led the way with $26.9 million in revenue for the category.

Benzinga’s Take: Similar to January, there were four big players in the online sports betting market for the state of Michigan followed by a gap before the next few players.

FanDuel maintained a lead, but the big surprise could be MGM moving up to second place. MGM also led the way in online casino, making it a key player in Michigan to watch going forward.

Photo by Santcomm via Wikimedia.