Legalized Sports Gambling in Michigan Projected to Net Millions in Tax Revenue for State

Michigan Sports Betting

Sports betting was legalized in Michigan back in December of 2019. It took a while, but eventually, in March of 2020, physical sportsbooks went live in Michigan. The entire time regulatory bodies worked on getting licensing, regulations, and rules set for online sports betting.

Now, in mid-November, we should be only weeks away from the online betting going live. The huge question on everyone’s mind in Michigan is how much this is going to affect them. What kind of tax revenue can the state expect to earn from this venture?

Unfortunately, physical sports betting was halted due to the pandemic. Obviously, this had a massive effect on revenue and also had an enormous impact on the pressure that Michigan felt to get online sports betting ready.

Michigan Sports Betting Revenue

So far, in the four months that Michigan sports betting has been available, in-person Michigan sportsbooks have seen revenue of $14 million, with $531k going to the State of Michigan and $649k going to the city of Detroit, where the three commercial casinos are situated at.

While this is nothing to laugh at, it has not been a ton of money. However, this is only from physical sports betting during a pandemic and a time where many sporting events have been canceled. Most experts expect these numbers to grow exponentially once mobile and online betting is launched.

Taking Colorado as a measure of what to expect, September saw $207 million in betting handle. This is in a state with barely over half of the population of Michigan. Now, we cannot simply multiply this number by two and expect that to be Michigan’s handle for the first month of online sports betting, but it gives us a sense. Sports betting in Michigan is going to quintuple-up, at the very least, when sports betting goes online.

The state should start seeing millions in tax revenue quickly after the launch as the betting handle skyrockets and more sportsbooks are available. In time the hope is that Michigan online sports betting can become a significant revenue flow for the state. If the previous states to go with online sports betting are any kind of indicator, then Michigan has made a smart choice for its balance books.

New Jersey, Illinois, Colorado, and Pennsylvania are already reaping the benefits of large betting handles, massive betting revenue, and ridiculous amounts of tax revenue for their states. All while during one of the harsher times for sports betting due to the pandemic and hard economic times that citizens are facing.