Four online casinos in Michigan have looked to carve their own path.
Shying away from the major national brands, these tribal platforms among Michigan online casinos have stuck with their retail name.
It can be a risky move in a crowded and top-heavy iGaming field in Michigan.
As online casino revenue is at an all-time high in 2023, which of these four is getting the biggest piece of the state’s pie?
What Michigan tribal casinos run their own online casino?
In Michigan, four tribal casinos run their own online casinos.
The four tribes/casinos are:
- Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi: Play Gun Lake
- Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi: FireKeepers iCasino
- Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians: Four Winds Online Casino
- Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe: Eagle Casino & Sports
These casinos have elected to go with their own operations in order to take a bigger percentage of the revenue from their designated platform provider.
Usually these online casinos are not among the revenue leaders in Michigan. But, they are receiving a higher percentage of what they earn compared to the lead performers.
So, what’s the 2023 revenue power rankings for these name-brand online casinos?
1. Four Winds Online Casino
Of the four name-brand online casinos, Four Winds has always had the leg up on the competition.
They are the only one of the four iGaming operators to be closing in on $100 million in lifetime revenue.
Currently, Four Winds sits at $89.5 million in lifetime revenue, which ranks 10th among all Michigan online casino operators.
That same holds true in 2023, as Four Winds is leading this foursome in revenue.
- 2023 Online Casino Revenue (through Oct.): $34 million
- 2023 Market Share: 2.2%
- Peak Month: March ($3.8 million)
- Low Month: September ($3.16 million)
- 2022 Online Casino Revenue (through Oct.): $28.1 million
- Year-Over-Year Growth: 20.8%
Four Winds has managed to lead this pack through consistency and brand loyalty.
They don’t have the largest game count of the four and not a lot of jackpot options. However, Four Winds iCasino still uses a good mix of promos to stay connected to its customer base. Many of whom likely frequent their retail locations around the state.
2. Eagle Casino & Sports
The online casino for Soaring Eagle Casino and Saganing Eagles Landing is the last to join this group. It launched back in April of 2022, but has quickly established itself in a crowded lot.
Over its brief lifetime, Eagle Casino & Sports has generated $46.5 million in revenue. That puts it 12th all-time in Michigan.
This year, Eagle Casino & Sports is staying within reach of Four Winds for name-brand online casinos.
- 2023 Online Casino Revenue (through Oct.): $27 million
- 2023 Market Share: 1.7%
- Peak Month: June ($3 million)
- Low Month: January ($2.43 million)
- 2022 Online Casino Revenue (through Oct.): $14.7 million
- Year-Over-Year Growth: 84.3%
The year-over-year growth is a little misleading as Eagle Casino & Sports didn’t exist throughout Q1 of 2022. Still, even if it did, Eagle would be showing strong growth in 2023.
Eagle Casino & Sports by far has the largest gaming library of these four online casinos. They are approaching 800 different slots while having over 40 jackpot games.
While they won’t blow you away with a ton of promotions, they do make the ones they offer unique and interesting.
As they keep adding games, Eagle Casino & Sports is likely to see that pay off in continued revenue growth. It could soon surpass Four Winds in monthly revenue battles.
3. Play Gun Lake
Gun Lake Casino teeters on the tribal online casino line as it labels itself “Play Gun Lake” but also uses a partnership with betParx.
Over its lifetime, Play Gun Lake has sandwiched itself between Four Winds and Eagle with $50.2 million in revenue. However, Eagle is quickly catching up to it and should surpass it in the coming months.
There’s a bit of a drop-off over the bottom two name-brand online casinos in 2023 compared to their peers.
- 2023 Online Casino Revenue (through Oct.): $19 million
- 2023 Market Share: 1.2%
- Peak Month: March ($2.14 million)
- Low Month: June ($1.65 million)
- 2022 Online Casino Revenue (through Oct.): $19.4 million
- Year-Over-Year Growth: -2.1%
Play Gun Lake is one of the few Michigan online casinos to see year-over-year revenue decline to this point in 2023. It’s possible that could change, as the difference is minimal. Still, not a great sign.
Not only is Gun Lake losing ground in a booming iGaming year for Michigan, but it’s also losing ground on all of its name-brand peers.
Not helping matters is that Gun Lake offers the fewest slot games of the four online casinos. It was sitting below 200 options to start December.
4. FireKeepers iCasino
Rounding out the four name-brand casinos is FireKeepers.
The popular Battle Creek retail location hasn’t been able to find its footing quite yet in the Michigan online casino world.
Over its lifetime, it has $39.3 million in revenue, ahead of only SI Casino and PointsBet Casino in Michigan.
FireKeepers Online Casino has some work ahead of it if it hopes to catch Gun Lake in 2023 as well.
- 2023 Online Casino Revenue (through Oct.): $16.5 million
- 2023 Market Share: 1.1%
- Peak Month: March ($1.86 million)
- Low Month: October ($1.31 million)
- 2022 Online Casino Revenue (through Oct.): $12.8 million
- Year-Over-Year Growth: 29.3%
Though FireKeepers sits last of these four online casinos, their year-over-year growth is promising.
In 2022, FireKeepers iCasino crossed $1.6 million in monthly revenue just two times. This year, it has done it in six of the 10 months that we currently have data for.
FireKeepers has been building on its gaming library and actually offers a fair amount of jackpot games right now at 21.
While it has a lot of climbing to do, FireKeepers could make up some ground on Gun Lake in the coming year if both continue with their current trends.
