Michigan’s betting market continues to grow. It certainly helps that the Detroit Lions and the Michigan Wolverines are having great seasons and if that is true November should prove to be just as high.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board announced that the state’s legal sports betting handle (both online and retail) continued to climb, hitting $551.1 million. Online betting was the main contributor to the statewide handle, seeing over 96% of the action. Their $533 million was the largest collective handle, not just in 2023, but since Michigan allowed sports betting.
The huge jump in bets last month also improved operator revenue. The mobile sportsbooks reported $23.4 million in net profit, a 25% jump. From that the state kept $1.7 million in taxes, well above September’s $1.2 million.
The retail books, which saw $18.1 million in bets, also recorded their best handle this calendar year. Although the bettors saw more relative payouts when they bet in person. The brick-and-mortar locations held 6% of their bets while the online operators kept 8.4%, meaning the statewide hold was 8.3%.
New highs for mobile sportsbooks
With the retail market seeing their handle little changed in October (0.5% monthly increase), it was the mobile sportsbooks that gave Michigan its record-breaking boost.
Compared to September, these operators saw a 16.5% increase and a nearly 11% year-over-year jump.
FanDuel stays No. 1 as BetRivers makes another jump
You would think that it’s always good news when a state breaks a record in handle. But in Michigan 4 of the state’s 14 mobile operators saw their handle decline compared to September, while a couple others remained unchanged.
FanDuel saw the most bets at $173.3 million. DraftKings also saw their action rise with $147.3 million in bets. BetMGM a perennial third saw limited growth with a handle of $80.1 million.
BetRivers saw the highest growth compared to the other sportsbooks. Their $45.5 million was more than double the amount of bets they saw in September and they are now the 4th most popular sportsbook in the state, beating out Caesars’ $42 million. BetRivers has been on a roll lately after supplanting Barstool Sportsbook the month prior.
