The first year of online sports betting was a strong one in the state of Michigan.
With more than $3.6 billion wagered and more than $292 million in online revenue, the big question remained, what will the second year look like?
We can now start to get an idea of that with the release of the February 2022 revenue numbers on Thursday.
This past month gives us the first full month-to-month comparison from the first year. What it shows is that things continue on an upward trend.
Side-by-side comparison
Let’s take a dive into what the numbers actually look like from Feb. 2021 to Feb. 2022.
| Revenue Stat | February 2021 | February 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Total Handle | $325,569,037 | $423,768,381 |
| Online Handle | $301,857,054 | $398,394,907 |
| Retail Handle | $23,711,983 | $25,373,474 |
| Revenue (GGR) | $9,395,302 | $21,633,471 |
| Promos | $20,247,708 | $26,455,163 |
| Adjusted Gross Receipts | -$10,774,780 | -$3,949,139 |
| State Taxes | $146,580 | $360,354 |
| Local Taxes | $95,605 | $221,194 |
What stands out right away is the improved numbers in every category. Not a single major stat category saw a dip from one year to the next.
Nearly $100 million more wagered
February of 2022 saw nearly $100 million more wagered in online handle than February of 2021.
With the presence of Matthew Stafford in the NFL playoff race, Michigan bettors came out in droves to get behind him.
Stafford took the Rams to a Super Bowl victory and that helped online bettors in the state hand the sportsbooks another losing February.
However, Feb. 2021 was a much greater loss for the books. Last year saw $302 million in online handle, but resulted in a loss of nearly $11 million for the online markets.
Last year saw Michigan alum Tom Brady leads the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Super Bowl.
Promos also see a rise
One of the big concerns for online bettors heading into the second year in Michigan was how promos would be impacted.
While some feared that sportsbooks would begin cutting back on promo offers, that doesn’t prove to be true thus far.
Last month more than $26 million in promos were made available to bettors. That’s compared to just over $20 million last February. That’s a 30% increase year-to-year.
The February 2022 promos total is actually a new record since online sports betting started in January of last year.
FanDuel maintains top spot
FanDuel Sportsbook is keeping its hold on top of the state of Michigan when it comes to online handle.
As it did last year, FD brought in the most online handle for the month of February in 2022. FanDuel recorded $122.4 million in wagers, leading to $4.4 million in revenue between its online and retail sportsbooks.
The revenue king for Feb. 2022 was BetMGM Michigan, which brought in $5.8 million between its online and retail sportsbooks. Last year, MGM ran away in the revenue race with $5.3 million despite most books failing to break seven figures.
In the lifetime run, FanDuel leads in both online handle ($1.25 billion) and revenue ($125.3 million).
Only FanDuel, BetMGM and DraftKings Sportsbook have more than $1 billion in lifetime online handle for the state of Michigan.
