Michigan Internet Gaming Revenue Soars

Michiganders couldn’t get enough of their online casino apps last month. The Wolverine State saw a 32% increase in online gaming revenue from June 2024, with more than $240 million for the house. 

Compare that to the three legal and licensed casinos in the state, all of which are in Detroit and had June revenue of $101 million. That number actually decreased 4% year over year and was down 11% from the previous month. Of course, the state is also home to 23 tribal casinos, which don’t report revenue.  

Still, it’s evident that in Michigan, at least, consumers are making their preference for online gambling versus the brick-and-mortar experience, or at least that which is offered in downtown Detroit, clear. However, it's much harder to tell if that is a referendum on land-based gambling or on Detroit in general. 

Fifteen MI online casino operators are competing in the state, ranging from the vast to the very small, but FanDuel online casino, BetMGM online casino, and DraftKings online casino dominate here much as they do in legal online gaming states around the country. This month, FanDuel, which is partnered with Detroit’s MotorCity Casino, came out on top with more than $62 million. 

However, BetMGM and its partner, MGM Grand Detroit, often take the top spot here but fell a little short this month, coming in with $60 million. DraftKings, which partnered with the Bay Mills Indian Community, doesn’t seem to get anywhere near the traction in Michigan that it gets in states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania and is reliably a distant third this month with nearly $39 million in gross revenue. 

These three casino operators alone control about two-thirds of the market, leaving the remaining twelve to split up the remaining pie. Interestingly, the third Detroit casino, Greektown, which is owned by Penn and operates the Penn National Gaming online casino, has never been able to match the success of the other Detroit properties, typically finishing far behind the pack, with this month's gross receipts of $7 million.

SportsBooks Contribution

The online sportsbooks in Michigan also combined for a total of $44 million in gross gaming revenue. The end of the NBA season saw a steep drop-off in both total amount wagered (handle) and total win from May. Total handle was $302 million vs. $381 million in May, but up 9% from last June. Gross win in May had been nearly $50 million, so June’s $44 million was also a bit of a letdown.

FanDuel sportsbook remains the undisputed leader with more than $18 million in gross receipts, while DraftKings' nationwide dominance actually favors them in the sportsbook vertical, with a strong second-place finish with $13 million. BetMGM sportsbook can only lick its wounds with its less well-received BetMGM sportsbook app and slightly more than $5 million. 

If anything, the sportsbook competition is even more dominated by the big players, with only five books bringing in more than a million in June. That means the top three have $36 million of the $44 million total. 

Conclusion

Michigan can be a challenging state to read at times due to our limited understanding of the revenue from the tribal market. While it appears that the iGaming market is dominant when compared to the rather geographically limited Detroit casino numbers, it's more likely that once the twenty tribal casinos are added back in, land-based gaming will still remain dominant, at least in the summer months. 

However, one thing we can be certain of from both the iGaming and sports betting markets is that both are dominated by just three or four deep-pocketed leaders who leave very little on the table for the remaining tribes competing against their deep tech stacks and marketing budgets.