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Despite the sports calendar starting to dwindle in May, Michigan sportsbooks enjoyed a solid month.
Operators collected $395.3 million in handle and $51.2 million in revenue last month, an impressive 13% hold rate. While handle was down 8% compared to April’s $427 million, it bested May 2024’s handle of $354.8 million by 10%.
Maybe the year-over-year rise can be attributed to betting on the Detroit Tigers, who had the best record in the MLB last month.
The best May
May 2025 was the best month of May since the state legalized sports betting in 2020, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board. Here are handle numbers over the last four May’s:
- 2022: $333.4 million
- 2023: $288.3 million
- 2024: $354.8 million
- 2025: $395.3 million
Handle is expected to fall throughout the summer, but it’ll be interesting to see how it compares to previous years.
Another winning month for sportsbooks
Sportsbook operators collected $51.2 million in revenue, which translates to a 13% hold percentage. That’s an increase of 19.1% month-over-month and 19% year-over-year.
Michigan sportsbooks have posted solid hold percentages for most of the year, with March being the outlier, probably due to the lack of upsets during March Madness.
- January: 14.9%
- February: 12.1%
- March: 6.9%
- April: 10.1%
- May: 13%
ESPN Bet takes a hit
FanDuel Sportsbook led all operators in handle and revenue at $142.5 million and $23.3 million, respectively, which is not surprising. The company also posted an impressive hold rate of 16.3%.
Fanatics Sportsbook continues to make its presence felt, producing $30.7 million in handle, which placed it just behind FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM.
ESPN Bet’s market share plummeted in May. After recording just $19.4 million in handle, market share fell to 4.9%. Here are ESPN Bet’s monthly market share in 2025:
- January: 5.6%
- February: 5.3%
- March: 5.9%
- April: 5.7%
- May: 4.9%
Michigan sports betting handle for May 2025 by operator
| Licensee | Online Brand | Handle | Revenue | Hold | Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MotorCity | FanDuel | $142,466,116 | $23,262,509 | 16.30% | $1,725,007 |
| Bay Mills | DraftKings | $108,193,463 | $12,493,947 | 11.50% | $779,728 |
| MGM Grand Detroit | BetMGM | $57,344,823 | $7,493,570 | 13.10% | $6,053 |
| Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa | Fanatics | $30,708,736 | $3,351,130 | 10.90% | $74,026 |
| Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa | Caesars | $24,420,584 | $1,353,214 | 5.50% | $95,230 |
| Greektown | ESPN Bet | $19,394,592 | $2,313,613 | 11.90% | $44,046 |
| Little River Band of Ottawa | BetRivers | $7,179,089 | $606,064 | 8.40% | $32,923 |
| Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi | betParx | $1,995,444 | $197,791 | 9.90% | $0 |
| Sagniaw Chippewa | Eagle | $1,147,205 | $39,324 | 3.40% | $1,470 |
| Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi | FireKeepers | $1,082,306 | $48,248 | 4.50% | $0 |
| Pokagon Band of Potawatomi | Four Winds | $1,028,460 | $64,183 | 6.20% | $0 |
| Hannahville | SI | $335,696 | $21,554 | 6.40% | $0 |
| Total | $395,296,514 | $51,245,146 | 13.00% | $2,758,483 |
