Michigan Sports Betting Handle and Revenues Increase Year-Over-Year

A recent report on its earnings showed steady year-over-year growth for Michigan's legal sports betting industry, which is great news for many of our best sports betting sites.

Michigan Gaming Control Board February earning report showed an expected month-over-month drop in overall sports wagering activity for the state. This was mainly because only one NFL game was on the February schedule, and there were only 29 days of betting during the month. Michigan sports betting apps and retail providers still combined for a respectable month.

Handle and revenue figures in the Wolverine State saw double-digit year-over-year increases in February. The Michigan sports betting scene has now had two straight months of higher wagering activity compared to last year.

$415.8 million February handle

Wolverine State sports bettors spent $415.8 million with Michigan sports betting apps and retail providers. While this is a nearly 31% month-over-month drop from January's $601.1 million (the second-highest monthly total ever for the Michigan scene), it does represent a 16.4% year-over-year jump from the nearly $357.2 million in February 2022.

An astounding $402.6 million of the $415.8 million total February handle came from Michigan sports betting sites. The remainder of the handle was in retail.

February snapped Michigan's streak of $500 million monthly handles at four, although there are still plenty of Michigan sportsbook promos for residents to take advantage of.

$30.4 million in gross sports betting revenue

According to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, $30.4 million in gross sports betting revenue resulted from the state's February handle. It is about a $17.8 million month-over-month drop from $48.2 million in January but is a 31.2% improvement from $23.1 million in February 2023.

Michigan sports betting apps accounted for $30.5 million in revenues. The state’s retail sector reported losses for the February reporting period.

Michigan providers held just 7.3% in February, down from 8% in January but up from 6.5% from February 2023.

Thanks to a heavy Super Bowl-fueled promotional spend by Michigan's best sportsbooks, adjusted, taxable revenue for February came in at just $12.8 million.

From that, $1.28 million in taxes was contributed from Michigan sportsbooks to needy state and local tax coffers.

FanDuel maintains its edge

Unsurprisingly, FanDuel Michigan and DraftKings Michigan were the dominant forces in the Wolverine State legal sports betting market in February. The two accounted for over 75% of the state's total gross revenue.

FanDuel led the way with $152.4 million in accepted bets in February, a 38% market share. FanDuel Michigan also topped state providers in revenues with $13.9 million off of a 9.1% hold.

DraftKings Michigan reported $109.9 million in accepted wagers in February and $10.1 million in revenues thanks to a 9.2% hold. BetMGM Michigan checked in third with $58.7 million in wagers and $3.6 million in revenues thanks to a 6.2% win rate.

ESPN BET Michigan was fourth with a $30.4 million February handle and almost $2 million in revenue from a 6.5% hold, a 4.3% improvement from January.

Caesars Sportsbook Michigan rounded out the top five with $26.3 million in wagers in Michigan during February and $65K in winnings off an ugly 0.3% hold rate.

The combination of Fanatics Sportsbook Michigan and PointsBet, which Fanatics took over on Feb. 21, was sixth with $9.3 million in bets during the month.

Of note, there were five Michigan sports betting apps that ended February with negative Adjusted Gross Revenue - ESPN BET, Caesars, Fanatics Sportsbook, betPARX, and Soaring Eagle. None of those providers were forced to pay any state taxes.