Michigan Online Gaming Grows In August

During the month of August, sports betting and casino operators brought in $154.9 million in total revenue. The state reported that $24 million was made by online sportsbooks while the remaining $130.9 million was brought in by the state’s online casinos. The numbers from August are 4.5% better than July when combined online gaming revenue totaled $148.2 million. 

With the NFL season in full swing, sports betting numbers will likely continue to rise heading into September. Online casino gaming has proven quite season-proof in Michigan, hopefully adding to the numbers we’ll see next month. 

Sports betting numbers overview:

Online sportsbooks grew slightly last month, but the numbers weren’t anything too impressive. Licensed sportsbooks in Michigan handled $218.8 million during August, a 6.2% from July. Revenue was up 12.15% from July, totaling $25.7 million between online and retail locations. The state reported a hold of 11.2%. 

FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM lead the pack with $8.1 million, $6.3 million, and $5.8 million total revenue, respectively. The three sportsbooks handled $176.3 of the total $229.8 million in August, accounting for 76% of the total sports bets placed during the month. FanDuel and BetMGM both gave a little more back to the players this month, holding slightly less money overall as compared to July. DraftKings, however, increased its hold to 11.9%, 3.8% more than July.  

FanDuel Sportsbook has continued its streak in Michigan. The sportsbook has handled the most money month over month since January 2022. DraftKings has finished second to FanDuel for the past three months.

Online sports betting numbers at a glance:

• Total handle: $218.8 million (6.2% increase month over month)
• Total revenue: $25.7 million
• Total Tax Revenue: $1.5 million
• Top sportsbook: FanDuel

Online Casino Revenue Overview

The state’s online casino brands reported a total of $130.9 million in revenue, a 3.4% increase from July. 

Michigan online casinos reported $97.2 million in revenue during August 2021. This August resulted in a 25.7% increase in revenue compared to August 2021. 

BetMGM continued to dominate the online casino market in Michigan during August. The brand brought in $49.3 million in revenue, making up 37.6% of the total online casino revenue in August. DraftKings Casino was second with $19.36 million, beating out FanDuel by just $33,000. The two online casinos generated $38.7 million in combined revenue, still $10.6 million shy of BetMGM. 

Detroit Casinos

Even though state operators have seen growth with online casino gaming and sports betting since 2021, operators are still shy of 2019 total revenue numbers. From January to August 2022, the three Detroit casinos’ total gross gaming revenue (GGR) was $847.2 million. From January to August 2021, GGR revenue was $974.2 million, 13% more than $847.2 million. By casino, Jan – Aug 2022 numbers have MGM Grand Detroit GGR down 3%, MotorCity down 18.5%, and Greektown down 23% compared to Jan – Aug 2019. 

For the three Detroit casinos, the month of August 2022 was down $13.7 million from August 2019, bringing in $106.1 million in total revenue across the three brands. 

Online casino numbers at a glance:

• Total revenue: $130.9 million (3.4% increase month over month)
• Total promotions: $13.4 million
• Total Tax Revenue: $34.3 million

Taxes generated

During August, sports betting operators generated $1,490,223 toward state taxes. Online casino brands brought in $34,333,070 in total taxes. 

• Casino gaming state tax revenue: $24.3 million
• Online sports betting tax revenue: $989,621

The three casinos in Detroit pay a portion of their taxes to the City of Detroit.

• Casino gaming City of Detroit tax revenue: $6.3 million
• Online sports betting tax revenue: $360,923

Mac Daniel is a Michigan native and freelance writer for PlayOnlineCasino and PlayOnlineSportsBetting. He has experience writing about a wide variety of topics, including healthcare, tourism, non-profit organizations, and most recently casino and sportsbetting news. To check out more of his work, visit: playonlinemichigan.com