Online sportsbooks in Michigan could accept their first bets before the NFL season ends. When that happens, as many as eight sportsbooks could go live within days of each other.
Not unlike a gold rush of another era, according to Mibets.
Among the various operators expected to be licensed, Barstool could emerge as the sportsbook leader.
“I think it will be a focal point for Barstool and Penn National Gaming to make sure that happens. When they launched in Pennsylvania, you literally had half the Barstool team living half the time in Pennsylvania. I think for Michigan they’re going to go full throttle,” said Matias Dorta, an associate at Roundhill Investments.
For one thing, Penn National will be there at the starting gate unlike Pennsylvania. Then there’s Barstool’s Dave Portnoy—a modern day P.T. Barnum—who went to the University of Michigan. Penn also owns Greektown, one of the more popular casinos in Michigan. They’re building out a branded Barstool Sportsbook inside the property.
“All of it together gives Barstool a really unique opportunity to go in there and try and pick up their first state where they’re the leader in terms of market share,” said Dorta, who said DraftKings and FanDuel should both capture a large percentage of the Michigan market.
The fourth sportsbook Dorta has his eye on in Michigan is BetMGM.
“They’ve made a huge push in Detroit, signed partnerships with the Lions, with the Red Wings, and plenty of BetMGM advertising clearly on the screen during Lions games,” Dorta said. “And they own the MGM Grand Detroit, the largest casino in this state.”
Dorta sees Golden Nugget in play, especially for its successful online casino product.
“They are the number one online casino in New Jersey and are in the top five nationally. If they go into Michigan and can take a market share lead there, then people are going to have to pay attention and ask what they’re doing.”
