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.
The Michigan gambling market is one of the most expansive 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, May vs. April
| Total handle | Mobile handle | Revenue (GGR) |
May | $395.297M | $386.067M | $36.873M |
April | $426.994M | $417.583M | $27.093M |
Change | Down 7.4% | Down 7.5% | Up 36.1% |
Michigan sportsbooks fell just short of reaching $400 million in handle for May, but they made up for it with the highest statewide revenue figure since breaking the state record in January.
The May total sports betting handle in the state was $395,296,514, down 7.4% from April ($426,993,695). Mobile operators in Michigan accepted $386,066,921 in wagers last month, a 7.5% decrease from $417,583,191 in April.
The total handle figure was up more than $40 million from May 2024 in a year-over-year comparison, according to figures that the Michigan Gaming Control Board posted.
But the good news for gaming operators in May was that the total adjusted sports betting gross gaming revenue (AGGR) increased by 36.1% in a month-over-month comparison, from $27,093,172 in April to $36,873,130 in the following month. Mobile operators accounted for $35,591,891 of that AGGR for the fifth month of 2025.
The state’s sports betting handle was up even more dramatically, rising 44.1% from $1,420,919 the previous month to $2,047,849 in May.
The total revenue was the second-highest this year, behind the record $57.27 million in January.
MotorCity Casino (which offers FanDuel Michigan Sportsbook) led the state’s online operators in handle for May at $139,482,688. The rest of the top five statewide in mobile handle were Bay Mills Indian Community (DraftKings) at $108,193,463, MGM Grand Detroit (BetMGM) with $54,736,714, Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (Fanatics) at $30,708,736 and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (Caesars) with $24,420,564.
Betting Handle Through The Months
Handle and Revenue FAQs
In Michigan in 2024, sports betting handle was about $5.5 billion, a 14.6% increase over the 2023 total of $4.8 billion. Adjusted gross sports betting receipts were just above $204 million last year, a 14% dip from the $237.4 million collected at mobile and retail sportsbooks combined in the previous year. Adjusted gross receipts include deductions for the monetary value of free play incentives provided to and waged by bettors. Internet taxes, fees and payments from sports gambling from both Tribal and casino operators were about $14.695 million in 2024.
Author
Jim Tomlin writes and edits for BetMichigan.com. In 30 years as a journalist he has worked for publications such as the Tampa Bay Times, Saturday Tradition, Saturday Down South and FanRag. He now lends his sports and gambling expertise to BetMichigan among other websites.
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