Sports betting is proving to be more popular than anticipated across the state of Michigan, with revenues hitting new peaks over the course of September this year.
Here is a look at just how much money this segment of the gambling industry is making, along with the broader implications this has for the future of sports betting in Michigan and nationwide.
Seasonal ebbs and flows
September is always a big month for sport in general, and this goes hand-in-hand with the usual spike in gambling activity as various leagues and events get underway in earnest.
The best MI sports betting sites at bestbettingsites.com were among the beneficiaries of this windfall, with the total amount wagered across online betting services as well as their bricks and mortar equivalents hitting $386.8 million.
This is 85% more than was wagered in August of 2021, and just managed to pip the previous record of $383.7 million reported in March this year, when March Madness was in full swing.
As you might expect, the NFL has a lot to do with September’s record-setting haul, as fans were eager to make things interesting when watching their favorite teams play. Even so, this paints a positive picture of the broader sports betting market in Michigan, and suggests that there is still momentum behind it.
Extrapolating revenues from wagering totals
It is worth pointing out that just because Michigan’s sports fans poured almost $400 million into betting services in September alone, this does not represent the total take of the bookmakers.
While no doubt lots of people lost money on wagers, there were also winners, and so gambling sites paid out plenty of their takings.
This left a total of $27.1 million in revenue, of which more than three quarters was generated online. With the huge number of incentives and promotions being handed out left right and center, the actual amount of money made by sites after taxes was vanishingly small.
But this is all in the name of bringing in more customers and paving the way for bigger profits further down the line.
Speaking of taxes, the state’s coffers were boosted to the tune of just over $420,000 thanks to web-powered wagering services in September 2021.
That is around a third lower than the tax bill paid in August, and again this discrepancy is largely due to just how much gambling operators were plowing into marketing and rewards for new and existing customers.
Exploring the growth potential
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the news that hundreds of millions of dollars in wagers were made in Michigan within the course of just 30 days last month is that the market has only been legitimate and legal since January.
It took a long time for legislators to implement regulated and accredited online gambling, but clearly this delay did not dampen the demand for such services.
In fact the growth of web-based wagering is all the more significant when viewed in juxtaposition with land-based sports betting.
$32.5 million was wagered at bricks and mortar casinos and other licensed venues in Michigan, and while revenues of $3.5 million meant that this type of operation was more valuable proportionally than online activities, it comes nowhere near matching them in terms of sheer volume.
The long term likelihood is that online sportsbook sites will remain dominant, because they give customers far more convenience and make wagering services accessible to anyone with a smartphone and an internet connection.
Coupled with the aforementioned embarrassment of incentives and rewards, and it is easy to predict that more records will be broken soon.
Examining the biggest sports betting brands
While it is easy to see Michigan’s gambling industry as a homogenous whole, it is helpful to remember that there is still plenty of competition in this market, which in turn gives choice and better value to customers.
September saw DraftKings step out ahead of its rivals to take 30% of all wagers made. The fact that it reported a loss of $4.7 million over this period demonstrates just how much brands like this are willing to put on the line to secure new users through promotional spending.
Second place went to FanDuel, while third place was taken by BetMGM. Smaller players such as Barstool Sportsbook and Caesars still pulled down healthy seven-figure sums.
Hopefully this industry will continue to thrive, and ideally move towards major profitability, so that Michigan’s taxpayers can get the added support that a thriving sector like this can bring with it.
