Michigan Reports over $300M in First Month of Sports Betting

The first full month of online sports betting in Michigan led to some significant results, and it bodes well for the rest of 2021. The Michigan Gaming Control Board announced that the total online sports betting handle for February was $301.8 million.

The state also reported a gross sports betting revenue of close to $9.5 million for February, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Sportsbooks offered several promotions during the month, leading to a net revenue loss of $10.7 million.

Tennessee held the previous record for largest sports betting handle in an opening month with $130 million, but Michigan more than doubled that number. Even though Michigan has had sports betting since March 2020, the industry will now take off with online betting options.

Michigan received just $142,000 in sports betting taxes from online sportsbooks, but this number is expected to climb in the coming months. March should be another record-setting month as the NCAA Tournament is set to get underway.

FanDuel Leading the Way

There are a number of the biggest names in the online sports betting industry live in Michigan, but they are all looking up to FanDuel Sportsbook. FanDuel accounted for $87.2 million of the online sports betting handle, making up 29 percent of the market.

BetMGM and DraftKings made up 27% and 24% of the market share, respectively, and they could surpass the leader in the coming months. Barstool Sportsbook got off to a great start in January, but that operator made up just 13% of the online sports betting handle.

Online Casino Gaming a Hit

Online casino gaming also launched on January 22 in the state of Michigan, and that is another industry that has gotten off to a great start. Online casinos brought in nearly $80 million in revenue during February, bringing in much more than sports betting.

Michigan was able to collect more than $14 million from online casinos, and it was BetMGM that saw the most handle during the first month. BetMGM was the only operator that saw more than $20 million in online casino handle, totaling $26.9 million.

Michigan Affecting Indiana

Last week, the Indiana Gaming Commission announced the February sports betting numbers for the Hoosier State, and the numbers were disappointing. Total sports betting handle fell from $348.2 million in January to just $273.9 million in February.

The lack of sports betting also affected the gross sports betting revenue, as the state reported just over $17 million. January brought in more than $29 million in gross sports betting revenue, which was a record.

Even though February was a shorter month, this decrease can be attributed, at least in part, to the launch of online sports betting in Michigan. It’s possible Michiganders who came to Indiana to be no longer need to do so, which would negatively impact Indiana’s numbers.

Illinois has also grown into one of the biggest sports betting markets in the United States, and Indiana is losing customers to its two neighboring states.