Online Sports Betting Declining In Michigan, But FanDuel Still Surging
April marked another month of sharp decline for Michigan sports betting.
Michigan online sportsbooks and Detroit’s three retail casinos reported a combined $338.1 million in sports bets during the month, a drop of $57 million from a year ago.
While retail sports betting has been on the decline for the past year, online sports betting in Michigan is now showing a collective decline as well.
Outside of the state’s two biggest operators, FanDuel and DraftKings, the majority of the state’s online sportsbooks are taking big hits thus far in 2023.
Not only does that apply to bets, but also Michigan’s sports betting revenue.
Online sports betting down nearly 10% in 2023
The first four months of 2023 has shown that online sports betting is declining in Michigan.
April’s $322.8 million in online wagers marks the third consecutive month the state has had at least $40 million less in handle than it did in the same month in 2022.
December of 2022 marked the first time that online sports betting had a lower handle than the previous year. That trend has gotten even worse thus far in 2023.
For the first four months of 2023, online wagers are down 9.7% compared to the first four months of 2022.
| Month | 2022 Online Handle | 2023 Online Handle | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | $496.8 million | $475.6 million | -$21.2 million |
| February | $398.4 million | $344.9 million | -$53.5 million |
| March | $451.6 million | $407.7 million | -$43.9 million |
| April | $371.2 million | $322.8 million | -$48.4 million |
| Total | $1.72 billion | $1.55 billion | -$166.9 million |
FanDuel continuing to thrive, DraftKings staying steady
The news has been tough for most Michigan online sportsbooks.
However, the state’s two leaders are holding steady.
FanDuel Sportsbook MI has clearly established itself as the state’s online sportsbook leader. FanDuel has recorded nearly $3 billion in lifetime online handle and is seeing positive results thus far in 2023.
The online operator for MotorCity Casino has $534.4 million in wagers for the first third of 2023, up $20.7 million from 2022 ($513.7 million). That is the largest increase of any of Michigan’s 15 sportsbooks.
DraftKings Sportsbook MI and BetMGM Michigan have been battling for second in the state, but DraftKings looks to be creating some distance in that race in 2023.
DraftKings has $394.2 million in wagers thus far in 2023, down just $13.4 million from the $407.7 million it recorded at this point in 2022.
BetMGM is a much different story. It has amassed only $304.6 million in online wagers in 2023. That’s $90.7 million lower than the $395.3 million it had through the first fourth months of 2022.
Six Michigan online sportsbooks down more than 20% in handle
Through the first third of 2023, a total of six online sportsbooks in the state are down at least 20% in wagers compared to a year ago.
Aside from BetMGM, here are the other sportsbooks seeing big wagering declines in 2023:
- Barstool Sportsbook: Down $54.6 million (38.6%)
- Caesars Sportsbook: Down $31.4 million (23.1%)
- PointsBet Sportsbook: Down $7.5 million (16.5%)
- Fox Bet Sportsbook: Down $5.8 million (40.8%)
- betParx Sportsbook: Down $1.8 million (27.4%)
- FireKeepers Online Sportsbook: Down $1.7 million (21.6%)
Aside from FanDuel, only BetRivers Sportsbook (up $10 million) and Golden Nugget Sportsbook (up $1.2 million) have seen a growth in wagers for 2023.
Online sports betting revenue up collectively behind FanDuel’s surge
There’s some good news, with some more bad news.
The good news is that Michigan’s online sports betting revenue is up nearly 16% thus far in 2023 after amassing $36.3 million in April.
The bad news is that FanDuel and DraftKings make up the majority of it, with FanDuel leading the way by a large margin.
FanDuel has $71.2 million in revenue thus far in 2023, that’s $25.3 million greater than in 2022 ($45.9 million). Its growth is actually greater than the revenue of every other book’s 2023 revenue outside of DraftKings.
DraftKings has $27.9 million in revenue in 2023, up $10.8 million from 2022.
Nine online books have seen a decline in revenue for 2023 thus far, led by BetMGM (down $10.8 million) and Barstool (down $6.5 million).
Collectively, Michigan has $137.2 million in online sports betting revenue in 2023, that’s up $18.8 million from 2022’s mark of $118.4 million.
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