Sports gambling in Michigan was changed forever in March of 2020 when the first sportsbook in the state starting taking in-person bets. Less than a year later in January of 2021, online sports betting would open up with launch offers sent out courtesy of DraftKings, BetMGM, FanDuel, and BetRivers.
So where do sports betting in Michigan stand now that we’re more than a year and a half into betting in general and more than six months into online betting?
Needless to say, sports betting in Michigan got off to a slow start due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which caused sports to essentially get shut down altogether during the spring and early summer months of 2020.
With pro and college sports returning later last year, in-person bets picked up with increases between August of last year and October before taking dips in November and December.
Wagers, however, really shot up in January with the opening of online betting as total handles eclipsed $150 million and continued to shoot up until this past March when handles were over $383 million.
And despite wagers taking another dip in April and May, Michigan and the State have already generated $1.5 billion in total handle since sports betting opened in March of 2020. Of that total amount, $123 million is revenue, according to Sports Betting Dime.
Not to mention, like any other monetary trend you’re going to see increases and decreases based on market influences. In the case of sports betting, it’s assumed that the early winter months of January and February will continue to be big months with the NBA, NHL, and NCAA basketball all still being in play. March will continue to probably be one of if not the biggest month of the year with the NCAA Tournament taking place while the summer may continue to see the sharpest declines with Major League Baseball being the only major betting sport in season. From there it’s assumed handles will increase with the return of NCAA Football, the NFL, NBA, and NHL while European association football will also be kicking off their campaigns.
In any sense, sports betting in Michigan should be on track for a huge year in 2021, especially when sports will more than likely be at a much more normal state once fall rolls around.
Barstool is losing in Michigan
Despite Michigan set to become a pretty big player in sports betting across the country, losers have still emerged and we’re not talking about individual gamblers.
Barstool Sports, which is owned by Penn Gaming, seems to be becoming an afterthought when it comes to gamblers looking to place bets either in-person or online.
According to Darren Rovell of ActionNetwork.com back in June, Barstool’s market share of total handles has seen significant drops since starting out hot when they opened up shop in Michigan back in January.
Barstool made Michigan its second state — after Pennsylvania — and got off to a fast start. In its opening weekend, it took in $13.7 million in handle and for the 10 days in January had a 23.9 percent share of the market.
Fast forward to the May numbers for the state and the Barstool had a handle of $4.4 million more than those 10 days in January ($18.1 million). Its market share has dropped from 23.9 percent to 13.3 percent in February, 11 percent in March, 9.8 percent in April to 7.7 percent in May.
FanDuel (30 percent), DraftKings (28 percent), and BetMGM (21.7 percent) remaining the biggest sportsbooks in the state which isn’t shocking when you consider sports gambling is certainly their bread and butter. However, given the abysmal share that Barstool currently has, you have to wonder when and if they’ll realize their failure.
