June foreshadowed a rough July in Michigan’s sports betting market and bettors continued to show little appetite to place wagers last month.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board announced the state’s legal sports betting handle fell to $208.4 million, which is the lowest action the state has seen in two years. The online operators in the Great Lakes State saw their bets drop 11.9% while the physical books lost just 2.4% of their handle compared to the previous month.
However, operators were able to improve their profits despite an overall drop in wagers. July’s hold percentage hit about 11%. By comparison, sportsbooks kept 7.5% of the bets they took in throughout June. After deductions, online books reported $16.3 million in gross receipts, well above June’s $9.2 million.
Retail operators rebounded as well. June was the only month where, post-deduction, those sportsbooks lost money as a whole. And thanks to a jump in hold, those same operators announced that July was their third-highest grossing amount this year.
All of those numbers are great for the Michigan state government who hauled in $1.1 million in July, about double June. Online books paid 100% more month over month and retail books paid 65% more.
FanDuel handle unchanged as rivals fall
When statewide handle falls, nearly every sportsbook feels the pinch. But FanDuel saw its bets relatively unchanged as its competitors reported a decline. Although July’s report is not meant to show a larger trend since FanDuel simply rebounded after a poor showing in June.
FanDuel reported $73.4 million in bets, a 0.8% drop. DraftKings reported $55.3 million for a 15.3% decline, and BetMGM was third with $32.9 million, a 21.2% fall. Caesars saw $14.2 million, which was a 19.7% monthly drop, while Barstool Sportsbook fell below $10 million for the first time this year, hitting $8.1 million for a 22.8% fall.
On the retail side, BetMGM was the only operator to see a dip in handle last month. FanDuel’s MotorCity location saw an uptick in bets to become the second-most popular retail operator in July. But it was Barstool’s Greektown Casino that saw the most action at $3.28 million, slightly above June’s $3.26 million.
Both the MGM and Greektown sportsbooks made money last month while FanDuel reported a loss for the third time in four months.
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