August brings bettors out of hibernation as football season starts, and while that brings more bets, for Michigan, it didn’t mean the state benefitted.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board reported that the state’s legal sports betting handle increased a hair to $228.4 million, versus July’s $208.4 million. Yes, that is an improvement, but compared to the last 12 months, August is the second worst month (July 2023 was the worst).
On top of that, after deductions the state’s operators announced just $16.2 million in net revenue, which is less than July’s $16.3 million. Although, thanks to another month of double-digit hold (10.2% in August) Michigan’s tax bill was well above June’s.
Looking back at August 2022, Michigan sports betting saw slightly more action with a $229.7 million handle. But 2023’s revenue was 8% lower than August 2022, which reported $17.6 million.
The state of Michigan received just over $1 million and the local cities got roughly $383,000 from their fees. The majority came from online betting sites, which contributed over 98% of the total bill.
FanDuel leads again
FanDuel reported $76.1 million in bets while DraftKings reported $57.8 million. BetMGM was third with $36.4 million. Caesars saw $16.5 million while Barstool Sportsbook hit $11.5 million.
When looking at adjusted revenue, the order stayed the same with FanDuel at $7 million, DraftKings at $3.6 million, BetMGM at $1.9 million, and Caesars at $1.6 million.
On the retail side, all operators saw an increase in handle. Barstool’s Greektown Casino was dominant in Michigan with $4.7 million in wagers — nearly half of the statewide retail handle of $10 million. But their popularity did not translate into profit. Both FanDuel’s MotorCity casino ($201,000) and the MGM Grand ($85,000) saw more gross profit than Barstool.
