Michigan Sports Betting Hits New Mark
Sports betting in Michigan officially launched in January 2021, and the state is already close to hitting $500 million in the monthly handle. The October sports betting handle total was $497.6 million, shattering the mark that was set in September.
The previous total was $386.8 million, and that was nearly 29 percent less than what was brought in last month. Michigan has established itself as one of the biggest sports betting markets in the US and could be cementing itself in the top five.
The $497.6 million currently puts Michigan in third place, but not all of the states have reported on sports betting handles. New Jersey and Pennsylvania have already passed Michigan, and Illinois and Nevada should also surpass the state.
Michigan has both online and retail sports betting available, but online continues to be the most popular way to bet on sports in the state. The online handle for the month of October was $463.3 million, while retail betting at the Detroit casinos chipped in just over $30 million.
NFL betting helped Michigan set a new state record, but college football also contributed. Michigan and Michigan State met up for a clash of top-10 teams right at the end of the month.
FanDuel Claims Top Spot
There are three operators in Michigan that continue to battle for the top spot, and there was a change atop the leaderboard in October. FanDuel Sportsbook has been the clear leader when it comes to revenue, but it took home the highest amount of handle as well.
The online handle for FanDuel Sportsbook last month was $123.9 million, narrowly edging out DraftKings Sportsbook. DraftKings had a total handle of $120.4 million to finish in second place.
BetMGM is the only other sportsbook to go over the $100 million mark in a monthly handle, and it also posted a higher revenue than DraftKings. Barstool and Caesars were fourth and fifth on the list, respectively.
Nine sportsbooks in Michigan had a hold percentage lower than 5%, and two sportsbooks actually lost money for the month.
Solid Month For Sports Bettors
Despite a record-setting month when it came to sports betting handles, the total revenue was not even close to a record. One of the biggest reasons for this is that sports bettors in Michigan were successful in betting on sports in October, especially when it came to football.
The holding rate for sportsbooks was just 5.2% in October, which was the second-lowest rate since the industry launched. Sportsbooks in February had a hold rate of 3.1%, but the Super Bowl result affected those numbers.
Online sportsbooks in Michigan gave out $19.6 million in wagers during the month of October, and that was actually a sharp drop from the $23.7 million given out in September. Online sportsbooks did not need to offer promos to attract new customers, but there were still offers surrounding football.
