Michigan Sportsbooks Continue To See Handle Slide In May

The Michigan Gaming Control Board announced this week that internet sports betting operators in the state reported a total handle of $237.6 million for May.

Geoff Zochodne - Sports Betting Journalist at Covers.com
Geoff Zochodne • Senior News Analyst
Jun 16, 2021 • 15:05 ET • 2 min read
Cade McNamara Michigan Wolverines college football
Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

Michigan’s betting handle continued to slide in May for both the state’s online and brick-and-mortar sportsbooks.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board announced this week that internet sports betting operators in the state reported $237.6 million in total handle and nearly $19.5 million in gross revenue for May.

It was the second month in a row that Michigan saw the amount of sports wagering fall. May's handle was down from April, when the state’s digital sportsbooks took $249.9 million in wagers and booked nearly $20.4 million in sports-betting receipts. 

Retail sports betting at Detroit casinos dipped as well last month, with the total handle falling to about $20.2 million in May from $24.3 million in April.

Michigan was the 16th state in the United States with legalized sports betting after wagers started being placed back in March 2020. The state allows for both online and in-person bets. 

The top online sportsbook in the state in May was that of Detroit's MotorCity Casino Hotel, which is run by FanDuel. The duo reported a total internet handle of about $71.2 million last month, down from $74.2 million in April.

"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," said Henry Williams, the Michigan Gaming Control Board’s executive director, in a press release. "The event-driven sports betting handle dropped 4.9 percent 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."

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Geoff Zochodne, Covers Sports Betting Journalist
Senior News Analyst

Geoff has been writing about the legalization and regulation of sports betting in Canada and the United States for more than three years. His work has included coverage of launches in New York, Ohio, and Ontario, numerous court proceedings, and the decriminalization of single-game wagering by Canadian lawmakers. As an expert on the growing online gambling industry in North America, Geoff has appeared on and been cited by publications and networks such as Axios, TSN Radio, and VSiN. Prior to joining Covers, he spent 10 years as a journalist reporting on business and politics, including a stint at the Ontario legislature. More recently, Geoff’s work has focused on the pending launch of a competitive iGaming market in Alberta, the evolution of major companies within the gambling industry, and efforts by U.S. state regulators to rein in offshore activity and college player prop betting.

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