Michigan online casinos kept their hot streak going in January, booking a fourth straight month of record revenue. The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) reported that operators produced $248.2 million last month.
The Great Lakes State proved to be the No. 2 iGaming market in 2024. That looks like it will hold true in 2025 as well. Out of the “Big Three” iGaming states, Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Jersey, Michigan was the only market to display a month-over-month increase.
In doing so, Michigan has expanded its lead over New Jersey, which generated $221.6 million in January earnings. It is still looking up at Pennsylvania, who recorded $268.0 million.
Closing that gap will be difficult since Pennsylvania enjoys a population advantage with 3 million more residents than Michigan. That said, Michigan online casinos do have compensating advantages in the form of a lower tax rate and less competition from alternative forms of convenience gambling like video gaming terminals and skill machines.
While Pennsylvania is still clearly the No. 1 iGaming market, it will be interesting to see if the Great Lakes State can close the gap even further in the coming months.
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe cyberattack delayed revenue by nearly a week
The MGCB usually releases revenue revenue reports on the third Tuesday of every month. However, January’s results came nearly a week later.
The Presidents’ Day holiday didn’t help, but the cyberattack on the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of the Chippewa Indians played impacted the revenue announcement, MGCB Public Information Officer, Lisa Keith, told PlayMichigan last week.
The result of the cyberattack has temporarily shut down the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe’s Kewadin Casinos on the Upper Peninsula. The facilities have been closed since Feb. 9, with no timeline on a potential reopen.
Michigan does not experience letdown to start 2025
The fourth quarter of any iGaming state is usually when those markets produce their best results of the year. However, Michigan keeps setting new bars.
It’s the fourth straight month the state has broken a revenue record. Those numbers look like:
- October: $220.7 million
- November: $226 million
- December: $244 million
- January: $248.2 million
Because of a strong January, operators experienced a 1.7% month-over-month increase. Pennsylvania and New Jersey did not improve from December:
- Pennsylvania: 4.7% month-over-month decrease
- New Jersey: 2.8% month-over-month decrease
- Michigan: 1.7% month-over-month increase
Despite the hot start, Michigan has a long way before it catches Pennsylvania.
New Hollywood app already makes an impact
PENN Entertainment had plans of launching a new standalone Hollywood Casino app in Michigan in early 2025. Those plans came to fruition when the company announced the launch of the new platform in the first half of January.
Despite the app not being live for a full month, Hollywood Casino posted its best month ever in Michigan with $6.3 million in revenue. The operator had ever cracked the $6 million, with the previous four looking like:
- September: $4.4 million
- October: $5.3 million
- November: $5.5 million
- December: $5.6 million
The new app offers around 750 slots, table games and live dealer titles.
BetMGM continues lead over FanDuel
BetMGM and FanDuel provided a dramatic showdown in 2024, which ultimately came down to the former winning by producing $640.1 million to the latter’s $614.6 million.
Those results continued last month, as BetMGM generated $66.4 million compared to FanDuel’s $62.9 million. While it’s true that BetMGM is still the market leader, FanDuel has made itself a formidable opponent.
BetMGM is the favorite once again, but FanDuel should continue to make things interesting.
January 2025 online casino revenue by operator
| Licensee | Online Brand | Revenue | Promos | Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MGM Grand Detroit | BetMGM | $66,409,157 | $3,984,549 | $17,579,198 |
| MotorCity | FanDuel | $62,894,320 | $3,773,659 | $16,612,793 |
| Bay Mills | DraftKings | $42,224,225 | $2,533,454 | $10,433,416 |
| Little River Band of Ottawa | BetRivers | $16,148,900 | $968,934 | $3,570,390 |
| Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa | Caesars | $16,106,024 | $966,361 | $3,559,106 |
| Keweenaw Bay | Golden Nugget | $11,569,211 | $694,153 | $2,387,515 |
| Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa | Fanatics | $7,787,406 | $467,244 | $1,530,435 |
| Greektown | Hollywood | $6,258,359 | $375,502 | $1,287,764 |
| Pokagon Band of Potawatomi | Four Winds | $3,806,967 | $228,418 | $715,710 |
| Sagniaw Chippewa | Eagle | $3,384,118 | $338,412 | $609,141 |
| Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi | betParx | $3,183,233 | $190,994 | $598,448 |
| Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa | PokerStars | $2,775,537 | $166,532 | $521,801 |
| Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa | Horseshoe | $2,685,771 | $161,146 | $504,925 |
| Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi | FireKeepers | $2,283,279 | $136,997 | $429,256 |
| Hannahville | SI | $634,247 | $38,055 | $119,238 |
| Total | $248,150,753 | $15,024,410 | $60,459,138 |
