The Michigan sports betting industry really took off in early 2021 as the state-approved and launched online sports betting in January. This state had seen a limited amount of growth when retail-only betting was available, but things turned around quickly.
Michigan set new sports betting handle records consistently throughout 2021, and the state ended the year with the highest total of all time. That should lead to another big year in 2022, especially as this state still has some room to launch new sportsbooks.
The total sports betting handle in the state of Michigan for December was $514.7 million, and that surpassed the previous record of $500.5 million that was set in November. This marked the fourth straight month that Michigan set a new record, and it coincides with college and professional football.
For the year, Michigan surpassed the $4 billion mark in total handle, with online sports betting accounting for $3.65 billion of that total. The online handle for the month of December was $484.6 million, which is also a record for Michigan.
That total gross sports betting revenue was just $12 million in December, and that was a massive drop from the $38.8 million that was reported in November. This was the only negative about the most recent report from the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
DraftKings or FanDuel?
When it comes to online sports betting in the state of Michigan, most of the action is being done at two online sportsbooks. DraftKings and FanDuel have built up a pretty big rivalry throughout the United States, and that has played out in Michigan as well.
For the month of December, DraftKings had the highest sports betting total at $120.3 million. FanDuel was right behind them at $119.9 million but finished in second place for the fourth time in the last five months.
BetMGM continues to be the third-largest sports betting operator in Michigan, and it chipped in with a total sports betting handle of $108.7 million for the month of December. Barstool Sportsbook and Caesars continue to see more action, but they remain well behind the three biggest options.
For the year, FanDuel was the sportsbook that saw the most action as it had a total sports betting handle of $993 million. DraftKings was next on the list at $951.1 million, and BetMGM came in third for the year with a total handle of $828 million.
Even though DraftKings has given FanDuel a push when it comes to the total betting handle, the two operators are not close in terms of sports betting revenue. FanDuel had a gross gaming revenue of $6 million for the month of December, and DraftKings was in second place at just $1.8 million.
Michigan State Partners With Caesars
It wasn’t long into 2022 that the first major sports betting deal came about in 2022, and it came from Michigan State University. Earlier this month, the school announced that it had reached a deal with Caesars Sportsbook, making that company the official sports betting and iGaming partner of the university.
There was a competition between Michigan State and rival Michigan as to which state could find a partner first, and the Spartans’ athletic program is going to receive the biggest boost. Caesars is going to receive advertising rights at Spartans’ home games, but students at the university are getting a huge boost as well.
Gambling education will be a major focal point in this new deal, and student-athletes at the school will also receive scholarship opportunities. The University of Colorado was the first to land such a deal, but this trend is quickly sweeping throughout the country.
