The first full month of NFL and college football brought a hefty increase of action back to Michigan in September.
That was expected compared to August, but the Wolverine State’s growing sports betting market generated 10% more dollars wagered compared to September 2023.
The Michigan Gaming Board reported a September handle of $523.8 million, the most since $601.6 million in January. It took until the second full month of football for the Wolverine State’s commercial and tribal sports betting operators to get to $500 million in a single month last year.
Michigan’s 12 online sportsbooks and three retail operators combined in September to produce $59.2 million in revenue, up 30% year-over-year and more than doubled August’s $29.1 million haul.
Operators claimed $27.7 million in adjusted revenue, up from $19.8 million in September 2023.
The September hold jumped more than a point from August to 11.3%, and the streak of double-digit win rates in the Wolverine State increased to six consecutive months.
More than $1.4 million in taxes went into Michigan’s coffers in September.
Bettors bash retail
In-person sports wagering action was up 21.5% from last September, but bettors held retail’s win rate to less than 4%. The $771,751 in September revenue fell 52% year-over-year.
Two of the sportsbooks also squandered a nice bounce-back from the $1.7 million in revenue in August, which helped make up for a nearly $380,000 loss in July.
MotorCity Casino produced just $28,217 on a $7.6 million handle while Greektown Casino hauled in $141,907 on $9.7 million wagered, overshadowing MGM Grand Detroit’s 12.8% hold on a $4.7 million handle.
FanDuel leads all
| Operator | September Handle | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | $180.1 million | $24.4 million |
| DraftKings | $155.9 million | $17.4 million |
| BetMGM | $74.8 million | $9.3 million |
| Caesars | $26.3 million | $1.8 million |
| ESPN BET | $25.7 million | $1.8 million |
| Fanatics | $23.9 million | $2.8 million |
Online sports betting accounted for $508.1 million of Michigan’s total September handle, up 79% from August.
FanDuel led all mobile operators with a $180.1 million handle, up from $144 million last September, and used a 13.5% hold to produce a state-best revenue of $24.4 million. DraftKings finished second with $155.9 million wagered, its highest amount since May, and revenue of $17.4 million.
No other operator reached $10 million in revenue for the month, but BetMGM doubled its profits from August with $9.3 million on a $74.8 million handle. Caesars surpassed $20 million in wagers for the fifth time in 2024 and hauled in slightly more revenue than ESPN BET, which was also close at $25.7 million wagered.
Despite a smaller handle, Fanatics Sportsbook bested Caesars and ESPN BET in revenue with $2.8 million, its highest total since taking over PointsBet’s Michigan sports betting operation in February.
Online casinos haul in big profits
Michigan’s 15 iGaming operators combined to produce $202.6 million monthly gross revenue, the second-highest total ever in the Wolverine State behind the $215 million in March. Adjusted revenue of $182.3 million led to $38.1 million in taxes to the state.
September’s gross revenue was up 3% from August’s $196.7 million and 21.7% higher than September 2023’s $166.4 million. Online casino revenue has reached $1.75 billion in 2024, about $350 million ahead of last year’s pace.
