Data from the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has revealed that online casinos and sportsbooks in the state both broke existing gaming financial records in November. The 15 tribal and commercial online casino operators combined to generate $175.3 million in gross receipts, the highest ever monthly total since the state legalized iGaming in 2021.
On the other hand, mobile and retail sportsbooks collected over $584 million worth of wagers to set a new all-time record betting handle.
It would appear that the month was some sort of rollercoaster for the Great Lakes State, though, as retail casinos in Detroit reported one of their lowest monthly revenues. The three operators, MotorCity Casino, Hollywood Casino at Greektown and MGM Grand Detroit jointly pooled $79.1 million in aggregate revenue.
Detroit Ruins Near-Perfect Month for Michigan Gambling
For 19 days in November, the Detroit casinos workers’ strike partially grounded the operations of the three retail casinos in the city. This event explains why Detroit's casinos were down to their lowest full month total in over 22 years.
The $79.1 million revenue generated from the three retail casinos was a 23.9% decline from November 2022 and a 7% drop from October 2023. $76 million from the overall gaming receipts in Detroit came from table games and slots while retail sports betting accounted for the remaining $3.1 million. MGM Grand Detroit managed to remain the industry leader, with 39% of the market share, despite a 34.4% decline in revenue year-over year.
MotorCity ended the month with $24.7 million, a 17.8% dip from its gaming revenue in the same period last year. Hollywood Casino appeared to be the least hit as it only dropped 10.8% to $20.7 million.
Online Casinos Beat March’s Total to Set New Records
The previous monthly revenue record from online casino gambling in Michigan was set in March 2023 when the state reported $171.8 million in gross receipts. November’s online casino ended up with an adjusted gross revenue of $157.8 million, depicting a 9.4% increase from the previous month and a 20.6% growth from November 2022.
Year-to-date revenue for Michigan online casinos currently stands at $1.74 billion with December’s figures yet to come in. That would mean Michigan has already bested its annual revenue from 2022 ($1.58 billion) having one month to spare. Michigan received $32.9 million worth of taxes in November, resulting in a total tax revenue of $320 million in the first 11 months of 2023.
Sportsbooks Records Highest-Ever Betting Handle Despite Revenue Drop
Although revenue statistics do not tell the full picture, sports betting operators had an awesome month of wagering traffic in November. Online sportsbooks alone accepted $551.1 million in wagers, the highest ever recorded in the history of the state.
Coupled with betting handle from commercial sportsbooks, the combined revenue came to $568.8 million, another record in its own rights. This is contrasting with Detroit retail sportsbooks that only managed $15.3 million in sports wagers in November.
Annual sports betting handle in Michigan crossed $4 billion in November, about 0.6% lower than the total wagers accepted during the same period in 2022. The sportsbooks could, however, only manage a hold of 6.3%, meaning that online sportsbooks could only generate $33.9 million in revenue. Combined revenue for online and commercial operators came to $37 million while adjusted gross revenue was $3.3 million.
Revenue for the first 11 months is currently below $200 million but is expected to improve once December’s figures are added. That said, sportsbooks paid $323,590 in taxes to local entities and $856,825 to the state of Michigan.
