Michigan sports betting took a noticeable drop in month-to-month and year-over-year handle in February 2023.
Michigan sports betting operators recorded just $357.2 million in handle during the month, a 27.2% drop from January and a 15.7% drop from February of 2022.
Online sports betting recorded $344.9 million of the handle, a 13.4% drop from a year ago.
“Michigan sports betting numbers took their biggest year-over-year hit to date, dropping 15.7% from a year ago,” PlayMichigan lead analyst Paul Costanzo said. “And not all of that can be attributed to lagging retail sportsbook numbers, as the online sports betting handle was down 13.4%. While the Super Bowl likely brought in the bulk of that, there wasn’t much else of local interest for Michigan sports bettors during the month.”
February 2023 Michigan sports betting revenue numbers
Here are the top-line numbers for Michigan sports betting in February from the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
- Handle: $357.2 million ($344.9 million online)
- Revenue: $23.1 million ($22.7 million online)
- Hold: 6.5% (down from 6.9% last month)
- Month-over-month: Handle decreased 27.2%
- February sports betting taxes: $1.8 million to the state and $358,728 to local entities.
- Top online sports betting app by handle: FanDuel Sportsbook MI with $122.7 million
- Top online sports betting app by revenue: FanDuel Sportsbook MI with $13.9 million
Three takeaways from February Michigan sports betting revenue report
Four operators show year-to-year growth
Not all was bad news for Michigan’s online sportsbook operators last month.
While the state took a collective drop from February 2022, a handful actually saw growth year-over-year.
Michigan’s top operator, FanDuel Sportsbook, posted $122.7 million in revenue, up every so slightly from its $122.4 million in February of 2022.
Other operators that saw growth year-over-year were:
- BetRivers Sportsbook: $8.8 million (up 45.1% from $6.1 million in 2022)
- SI Sportsbook: $1.257 million (up 0.6% from $1.250 million in 2022 as TwinSpires)
- Golden Nugget Sportsbook: $1.246 million (up 40.6% from $886,420 in 2022)
BetRivers continues to surge
We looked earlier in the month at some positive signs for BetRivers online sportsbook and casino.
Strong numbers for both helped Rush Street Interactive to a great Q4 financial report.
BetRivers Sportsbook MI put up a record setting January with $11.14 million in online handle. It followed that up with $8.8 million in February, which was the fourth-highest total BetRivers has had here in Michigan.
The online operator for Little River Casino now has recorded four consecutive months of at least $8.8 million in online sports betting handle.
Michigan bettors score big at select operators
Michigan’s sports betting operators brought in a collective hold of 6.5% for February. That’s a slight drop from January’s 6.9%.
However, some select operators took a big hit at the betting window, likely from NFL futures bets cashing in.
WynnBet Sportsbook MI was the worst hit, posting a 0.1% hold for February with just $1,566 in revenue.
We noted BetRivers’ big month, but it didn’t cash in much on it. BetRivers had just 1.5% hold for February to amount to $132,856 in revenue.
Altogether, six online sportsbooks had a hold of under 4% in February. Others were:
- DraftKings Sportsbook MI: 3.6% for $3.2 million in revenue
- Barstool Sportsbook MI: 0.6% hold for $116,314 in revenue
- Golden Nugget Sportsbook MI: 2.5% hold for $30,954 in revenue
- FireKeepers Sportsbook MI: 2.2% hold for $29,136 in revenue
Michigan sports betting February 2023 handle and revenue by operator
| Licensee | Online Brand | Handle | Revenue | Hold | Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MotorCity | FanDuel | $126,860,214 | $14,015,969 | 11.0% | $815,281 |
| Bay Mills | DraftKings | $89,520,096 | $3,234,975 | 3.6% | $0 |
| MGM Grand Detroit | BetMGM | $66,372,475 | $3,127,652 | 4.7% | $55,860 |
| Greektown | Barstool | $23,251,743 | $489,830 | 2.1% | $31,375 |
| Grand Traverse | Caesars | $22,710,321 | $1,149,053 | 5.1% | $39,134 |
| Little River | BetRivers | $8,805,576 | $132,856 | 1.5% | $0 |
| Lac Vieux Desert | PointsBet | $8,624,526 | $472,239 | 5.5% | $8,776 |
| Little Traverse Bay | Fox Bet | $1,942,887 | $110,571 | 5.7% | $8,907 |
| Sagniaw Chippewa | Eagle | $1,781,944 | $121,465 | 6.8% | $0 |
| Sault Ste. Marie | WynnBet | $1,589,193 | $1,566 | 0.1% | $0 |
| Nottawaseppi Huron | FireKeepers | $1,329,615 | $29,136 | 2.2% | $0 |
| Hannahville | SI | $1,257,019 | $66,312 | 5.3% | $0 |
| Keweenaw Bay | Golden Nugget | $1,246,140 | $30,954 | 2.5% | $0 |
| Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish | betParx | $1,113,766 | $79,324 | 7.1% | $0 |
| Pokagon | Four Winds | $755,685 | $72,825 | 9.6% | $0 |
| Total | $357,161,200 | $23,134,728 | 6.5% | $959,332 |
