Michigan Online Sports Betting: Big 3 Continue To Dominate, Barstool Sports Loses More Market Share

The state of Michigan is considered key for the online sports betting market as the most populous state where operations have launched.

The state has 12 online sports betting operators. Here's a look at the May sports betting figures for the Great Lakes State. 

Related Link: Michigan Surpasses $1B In Sports Betting Handle In One Year, What Investors Should Know 

May Sports Betting Statistics: Michigan online sports betting handle for the month of May totaled $237.6 million, down 4.9% from April. 

The cooldown was expected after a strong winter start, according to PlayMichigan. The site said the numbers are expected to go higher heading into the fall with the start of football season.

Michigan's Winners And Losers: FanDuel, owned by Flutter Entertainment PDYPY, led the way in May with $71.2 million in online betting handle, good for a market share of 30%.

DraftKings Inc DKNG ranked second in May with $66.7 million in online bets, good for a market share of 28.1%.

BetMGM, a joint venture from MGM Resorts International MGM, ranked third for May with $51.6 million, representing a market share of 21.7%.

The big three players continued to dominate the state of Michigan representing market share of nearly 80%, with a big dropoff to fourth place. 

The company that continues to struggle in the state of Michigan is Penn National Gaming PENN with its Barstool Sportsbook brand. Barstool Sportsbook had market share of 7.7% in May from $18.2 million in online bets.

Barstool started hot in Michigan with 23.9% market share in January (10 days) before seeing its share drop each month to 13.3%, 11%, 9.9% and now 7.7%.

Only four of the 12 betting operators in Michigan saw increases in May handle compared to April. This lists included DraftKings, Golden Nugget Online Gaming GNOG Rush Street Interactive RSI BetRivers brand and the newer launched FourWinds.

Aiming For Profits: One area where Barstool Sports could have a leg up is that it isn't doing promotions that can bite into profitability. 

DraftKings and FanDuel are both said to be unprofitable in the state of Michigan.

As an example, DraftKings spent $2.7 million on promotions in Michigan for May, exceeding the $1.9 million in revenue it took in.

Benzinga’s Take: After seeing a two-way race for the top and five or six key players in the state in the first two months, Michigan has quickly established a pattern of three big operators. 

If other new states follow Michigan's pattern, there could be some upcoming mergers and acquisitions to consolidate some of the players in the online sports betting market.