Slight Decline in Michigan iGaming Revenue
Online gambling revenue once again declined in Michigan during the month of May, marking a second consecutive month of decline. $114.3 million in revenue was generated during the month, which was 0.8% from April. The news comes from the latest figures posted by The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB).
iGaming revenue has declined slightly in Michigan during the month of May, according to the latest figures posted by The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB). This marks a second consecutive month of decline after April’s showings. ©geniuserp/Pixabay
Michigan Sports Betting Handle Also Faltered from April
The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has reported a second consecutive month of decline in Michigan’s online gambling revenue, with $114.3 million generated during the month of May — down 0.8% from April’s showings.
Accounting for the majority of all revenue for the month of May was online casino, bringing in a total of $94.9 million, which was about level with April’s total. Online sports betting revenue, however, declined by 4.4% when compared to April, leveling out at just $19.5 million.
Meanwhile, overall spending through online casino verticals remained stable in May, at $94.9 million. And while spending in Michigan’s sports betting handle was significantly higher than online casino, at a total of $237.6 million, spending here was nevertheless down 4.9% from the $249.9 million generated in April. This marked the lowest full monthly total since the state’s iGaming market launched in January 2021.
In terms of taxes, Michigan generated $18.1 million from online casino in the month of May, along with an additional $615,153 in online sports betting taxes. Based on adjusted gross receipts minus revenue minus bonuses, the tax calculations showed a 0.6% increase from April, up to $99.6 million.
Finally, tax calculated after adjusted gross receipts for online casino ended up being 0.3% higher than April’s results, at $89.1 million, while sports betting tax sank down 8.3% to only $9.9 million.
City, State and Tribal Government Received More Revenue
In its report on Michigan’s online gambling and sports betting performance for the month of May 2021, the Michigan Gaming Control Board’s (MGCB) executive director Henry Williams had the following to share on where the state’s generated revenue went:
“Adjusted gross receipts for internet casino gaming were up two-tenths of a percent compared with April, which means state, city and tribal governments received more revenue.”
Williams also potentially accounted for the reason as to why Michigan’s sports betting handle dropped so much when compared to April, clarifying the regulations on online horse racing betting:
“The event-driven sports betting handle dropped 4.9% compared with April. While Michigan does allow wagering on horse racing’s largest events through its regulated track and advance deposit wagering, it does not permit wagering on horse racing through the online sportsbooks.”– Henry Williams, Executive Director, Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB)
BetMGM Leads the Way in Operator Performance
When breaking down Michigan’s May 2021 online gambling revenue performance by operator, it becomes clear that MGM Grand Detroit’s BetMGM product came out first among all others.
BetMGM’s online casino offerings in Michigan generated $36.1 million in revenue for the month, coming out far ahead of fellow competitors such as FanDuel’s partner MotorCity Casino, which brought in only $14.7 million. DraftKings partner casino The Bay Mills Indian Community followed closely in third place, with $14.1 million generated in iGaming revenue.
Pivoting over to online sports betting, Fan Duel’s MotorCity Casino in fact took top place within this particular vertical, producing $9.3 million in overall revenue. It came solidly ahead of MGM Grand Detroit this time around, who generated only $5.3 million, followed by Bay Mills Indian Community with $1.9 million.
Michigan Fast Tracked iGaming in December 2020
Back in December 2020, in the midst of one of the worst stages of the coronavirus pandemic for the United States, the state of Michigan took major steps to accelerate the process of launching a regulated iGaming industry in The Great Lakes State.
This acceleration essentially took the form of a fast-track process, in which Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Michigan met in early December, resulting in policymakers across the aisle agreeing to waive the traditional 15-day waiting time for iGaming and sports betting rules.
The waiving of this waiting period allowed legislation which was created during the first half of 2020 to race past the approval stage and become enacted as real policy before the year’s close.
Though Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer legalized online gambling in the state back in December 2019, the application submissions and overall licensing process were severely slowing down the actual prospect of iGaming in the state.
Preparations for Online Sports Betting Began in January 2021
Similar to the online gambling legalization process, sports betting was fully legalized in Michigan in April 2020, only to experience a slow start afterwards. However, this all changed when two key factors which expedited legal sports betting arrived shortly thereafter: the overturning of legislation banning sports betting nationwide by the Supreme Court, thereby allowing state governments to decide, followed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the US in March 2020.
These factors helped create a climate in which legislators felt confident that online sports betting would successfully launch in Michigan by the beginning of February 2021 — which now very much appears to have been true.
The launch of online sports betting in Michigan will likely mean that nearly all of Detroit’s land-based casinos will eventually implement online sports betting options, including tribal casinos. The land-based gambling options available in Detroit alone total about 12 of the new sportsbooks, which will also naturally include nationwide sports betting companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings.
