With online Michigan sports betting available for the first time during football season, the state set a new handle record in September.
Michigan sportsbooks took $386.8 million in September bets, according to a state report. That is up 85% from August’s $208.6 million. The state’s previous high was $383.7 million in March 2021.
Sportsbooks generated $27.1 million in total gross revenue, a 7% hold.
September marked the first month of football that Michigan online sportsbooks were available. While Michigan’s legal market launched in March 2020, online operators did not launch until January 2021.
Online revenue drops in Michigan acquisition rush
As football is a key time to acquire and retain customers, online operators doled out promotions. While online operators generated $23.7 million in gross revenue, a 6.7% hold on the $354.2 million online handle, the adjusted gross receipts ended up $17,399.
In August, Michigan online sportsbooks turned in an adjusted revenue of $7.6 million. That was following a $15.9 million gross take on $192.3 million in online bets, an 8.3% hold.
The state collected $426,872 in taxes from online sports betting.
Top Michigan sports betting operators
DraftKings Sportsbook paced Michigan operators with $106.9 million in handle. DraftKings, however, turned in an adjusted gross revenue of –$4.7 million for the month.
FanDuel Sportsbook and BetMGM Sportsbook were neck-and-neck in September, turning in $82.1 million and $81.8 million in total handle.
Race for fourth?
Barstool Sportsbook took in $29.5 million in wagers, keeping its fourth-place spot. That is more than double the $13.1 million in bets the sportsbook took in August.
With Caesars Sportsbook riding its national marketing campaign, it also more than doubled its handle month-over-month from $10 million to $23.4 million.
Operator | Online Handle | Gross Revenue | Hold | Adjusted Revenue | Market Share |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DraftKings Sportsbook | $106.9 million | $3.0 million | 2.8% | (-$4.7 million) | 30.2% |
FanDuel Sportsbook | $82.1 million | $7.2 million | 8.8% | $3.2 million | 23.2% |
BetMGM Sportsbook | $81.8 million | $8.8 million | 10.8% | $2.7 million | 23.1% |
Barstool Sportsbook | $29.5 million | $1.6 million | 5.4% | $1.0 million | 8.3% |
Caesars Sportsbook | $23.9 million | $596,927 | 2.5% | (-$1.2 million) | 6.7% |
PointsBet | $13.5 million | $1.4 million | 10.4% | (-$721,467) | 3.8% |
FoxBet | $5.2 million | $392,933 | 7.6% | $191,134 | 1.5% |
BetRivers | $3.5 million | $312,458 | 8.9% | $102,538 | 1% |
WynnBet | $2.3 million | (-$55,863) | — | (-$189,793) | <1% |
TwinSpires | $1.6 million | $72,783 | 3.2% | (-$159,531) | <1% |
Play Gun Lake | $1.5 million | $60,429 | 3.8% | (-$48,037) | <1% |
FireKeepers | $1.0 million | $71,753 | 7.2% | $13,317 | <1% |
Golden Nugget | $1.0 million | $28,322 | 2.8% | (-$8,484) | <1% |
Four Winds | $588,732 | $57,096 | 9.7% | (-$257,258) | <1% |
Michigan retail sports betting stays level
The three commercial casinos turned in similar figures as September 2020. The $32.5 million is the second-highest retail handle in 2021, behind January’s $35.7 million, but below September 2020’s $33.5 million.
BetMGM at MGM Grand Detroit led the three with $13.2 million in bets. Greektown Casino’s Barstool Sportsbook took approximately $12 million in bets, while FanDuel Sportsbook at Motor City Casino handled $7.4 million.
Retail sportsbooks generated $3.5 million in gross revenue, a 10.8% hold. The state collected $130,844 in taxes from the retail sportsbooks, while the city of Detroit collected $159,970.
Shaping up as a big NFL betting season
Indiana sports betting and Iowa sports betting also set new record handles in September.
Multiple states, including Arizona sports betting, launched during the month as well. Several more states should launch in the coming months.
Both Arizona and Michigan were major contributors to a 122% year-over-year increase in US sports betting transactions tracked by GeoComply during the first four weeks of the NFL season.