All About Michigan Handle And Revenue

The experts at BetMichigan.com have assembled this guide to explain what we mean when we talk about Michigan sports betting financial figures, which include handle, revenue, adjusted gross receipts and tax collections.

Michigan has one of the most expansive menus of legal gambling options in the United States. Michigan has Tribal and commercial casinos; retail and mobile sports gambling; and online casino games (also called iGaming) with options such as slots, table games and internet poker.

Tribal casino gambling in Michigan predated the commercial casinos in Detroit. In 1993, the state signed compacts with several federally recognized tribes in Michigan to conduct Class III gaming on their lands, but some tribal gaming operated even before that time. In 1996, Michigan voters approved commercial casino gambling for Detroit, which allowed for three casinos. They opened from 1999 to 2000. 

Near the end of 2019, the state legislature legalized a raft of gambling options, including in-person and online sports gambling, iGaming and fantasy sports. Commercial and tribal casinos could have retail sports betting and Michigan sportsbook apps. The first in-person sports bet was made in March 2020 and online sports gambling launched in early 2021.

Michigan Sports Betting, November vs. October

Michigan broke state records for total and mobile sports betting handle in November and came very close to eclipsing the mark for revenue derived from sports betting, capping a very successful month.

The November total sports betting handle (amount wagered) was $671,219,907 for the 11th month of 2024, according to figures that the Michigan Gaming Control Board reported on Dec. 17. That was a 15.2% increase from October’s handle of $582,611,718 and easily overtook the previous state record of $613,425,699, set in December 2023.

As always, mobile operators accounted for more than 90% of the handle and those Michigan online sportsbooks accepted $650,228,980 in wagers for November, up 16.0% from October ($560,423,326). That also surpassed December 2023’s statewide high of $583,036,262.

Retail sportsbooks saw a slight decline, down 5.4% from October’s $22,188,392 to $20,990,927, but that didn’t stop the overall record from falling.

The total adjusted sports betting Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) for November was $38,972,229, with $37,057,512 of that coming from online operators. That was the second-highest mark in state history, falling just short of – here’s that month again – December 2023, when Michigan sportsbooks reported $39,941,648 in GGR. The total sports betting state tax rose 275.5%, from $538,121 in October to $2,020,482.

Michigan online casinos also set a state record for revenue at $203,324,240. That total for adjusted gross receipts for iGaming was 2.4% higher than October ($198,608,276), which had been the record. Ditto for taxes from iGaming, which was up 2.3% (from $41,507,074 the previous month to $42,454,887 in November) and set another record.

Betting Handle Through The Months