The Michigan Gaming Control Board released May 2022 revenue numbers for online sports betting and online casinos this past week.
While it was a predictably down month for Michigan, there’s still plenty of interesting trends to comb over.
With 15 different operators in both venues, there is a lot of jockeying for position within the state.
Some operators are on the rise, others seem to be on the way down.
Here’s a look at some of the operators in each category that are making moves, good or bad.
Online sports betting handle movers
Stock Down: DraftKings
Since online sports betting was legalized in Michigan, DraftKings Sportsbook MI has been a top player in the state.
The Bay Mills Resort & Casino partner actually led the state in online handle in August and September of 2021.
However, recent months have seen DK fall back. In 2022, DraftKings peaked with a 27% market share of online handle. Since, it has been falling pretty steady. It went to 24% in February, 23% in March and 21% in both April and May.
That has put it soundly in the third spot in the state behind FanDuel Sportsbook MI and BetMGM Michigan.
In the all-time handle race, DraftKings has dipped to third all-time at $1.43 billion, with BetMGM sitting second at $1.49 billion.
Stock Up: Barstool
Michigan’s top three online sportsbooks have definitely separated themselves from the rest of the pack. However, Bartstool Sportsbook MI has locked itself into the fourth position. Sitting at 9.2% of the all-time market share, it is three percentage points ahead of the next contender (Caesars Sportsbook MI).
After a January 2022 peak with a 10.1% share, Barstool took a big step back in February and March, falling to 6.6%. However, it has grown the last couple months and seems to be gaining steam again.
In April, Barstool had 8.4% of the share, and that jumped to 9.8% in May. That came with $32.8 million in handle, which was its highest mark since January of this year. It was also approaching double the online handle it had a year ago in May of 2021 at $18.2 million.
Stock Up: BetRivers
BetRivers Sportsbook MI hasn’t been a major player in the state, but it’s still been slowly climbing up the mountain.
Since January 2022, BetRivers has exceeded it’s all-time average of 1.4% of the market share for online handle.
All-time, BetRivers is at 1.4%. It has performed at 1.5% or greater every month of 2022. Just this past month, BetRivers hit its all-time high of 1.9%. BetRivers has had consistency throughout the ups and downs of the year, allowing it to move up the market share during down months of sports.
The strong 2022 performances has allowed it to push past Fox Bet and hold firm at seventh in the state at $78.6 million in all-time handle. Now it has its sights set on PointsBet Sportsbook MI ($212.4 million) in sixth.
Online Casino Revenue Movers
Stock Up: BetMGM
It’s hard to say BetMGM Casino Michigan has its stock rising when it has always been on top.
BetMGM has been the state’s leader in online casino revenue every month since it was legalized in January of 2021.
For all but three months, MGM has more than doubled its closest competitor in terms of market share.
Lately, BetMGM continues to hold firm around 35-40% of the share, but its top competitors (FanDuel, DraftKings) are taking some steps backward to give BetMGM a further lead in the race.
All-time, BetMGM remains at 40% of the share ($655 million), while FD ($285.4 million) and DK ($275.8 million) sit at 17%.
Stock Down: DraftKings
Similar to the online sports betting numbers, DraftKings is struggling to keep pace with the other big hitters in the state.
DK had been holding steady at No. 2, but it has suffered revenue defeats to FanDuel over each of the last three months. It’s also lost a percentage point of the market share in both April and May to drop to 14% most recently with $17.8 million.
That revenue total was the lowest DraftKings has brought in since November of 2021.
Stock Up: Caesars
Caesars has struggled to find its footing in the Michigan online casino game, but recent months would indicate it is starting an upward trend.
Sitting at just 3% of the market share in March, it bumped up to 4% in April and then a record-best 5% for May. May’s total was $6.5 million in online revenue. That was a new record for Caesars for a single month as well.
Over Michigan’s internet gaming history, Caesars has accounted for just 2% of the revenue share. But, if it can continue to hold steady or grow from here, it could start to move up the ladder. For 2022, Caesars is accounting for 4% of the online casino revenue market.
Right now Caesars sits eighth in all-time online casino revenue ($36.5 million). But, in May, Caesars landed in the top five.
We could see its online casino product starting to catch up to its sports betting product, which sits fifth all-time in Michigan for handle.
