On December 20, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a bipartisan bill package, legalizing online gaming and sports betting in the state.
Now officials are drafting rules and regulations for the new industry. Michigan Gaming Control Board spokeswoman Mary Kay Bean said bettors may be able to place sports bets in person at the three Detroit casinos this spring, but online betting won’t launch until 2021. Bean said most likely it will take a year to write and finalize rules allowing commercial and tribal casinos to receive sports betting licenses.
Bean said, “We are at a very early stage of this process. The agency must establish several sets of administrative rules, which pass through many levels of review. The timing of implementation depends not only on our agency but also on decisions other departments, agencies and the legislature make along the way. Our goal is to authorize onsite sports betting at the Detroit casinos this spring. Timing will depend on how quickly we receive applications, can approve the casinos’ internal controls and are able to issue required licenses.”
According to the Michigan Treasury Department, online gambling and sports betting could produce $19 million annually in new revenue for the state. The legislation calls for an 8.4 percent tax on sports betting revenue; online gambling taxes would range from 20 to 28 percent.
Some Michigan tribes are taking a cautious approach to implementing online gambling and sports betting once regulations are in place. But others are preparing for the transition, including the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, who already selected vendors to help run the new operations at their casinos. The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, owners of FireKeepers Hotel and Casino in Battle Creek, announced it will partner with SG Digital, A Division of Scientific Games.
FireKeepers Vice President of Marketing Jim Wise said, “We have been working and planning for the legalization of sports betting for over a year and a half. We are all very excited for this to become a reality but before that happens we have a lot of work to do.”
He said the casino’s sportsbook will occupy the Dacey’s Taphouse space and be renamed Dacey’s Sportsbook. “We have updated and added all of these new TVs because this is where people can come to sit, enjoy food and place their bets on games and teams. Our hope is that people will come to place a wager, but stay and enjoy this atmosphere.”
Wise said sports betting windows have been installed but for now they’re hidden from the public. Self-betting kiosks also will be installed.
Wise said FireKeepers eventually would offer online gambling, first only on premises, then through an app. “This is all new to us and we are figuring out what is best as we go. We don’t have another casino we can call up and ask for their procedures and how they do business so we are taking our time because I want to do this right,” Wise stated.
The three Detroit casinos also are getting ready for sports betting and online gambling. MGM Grand Detroit i opened the $6 million Moneyline sports bar and entertainment venue complete with betting windows and self-service kiosks for when the big day comes. Last summer Penn National announced it has 20-year agreements with online gaming operator Stars Group and mobile sportsbook theScore Inc. to offer the activities at Greektown plus its own sportsbook.
Even without sports betting and online gambling, Detroit’s three casinos set a new record in 2019. Their total adjusted gross revenue of $1.45 billion broke the 2018 record of $1.444 billion, an increase of less than 1 percent–slightly less than the 1.4 percent increase posted from 2017 to 2018, according to Michigan Gaming Control Board data.
Detroit’s two largest casinos, MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino, surpassed 2018 adjusted revenue with their highest yearly adjusted totals since opening in 1999. MGM posted $623.5 million, up from $619.2 million in 2018. MotorCity reported $493.6 million in 2019, up from $489.7 million in 2018.
Greektown Casino reported $337.2 million in revenue, up slightly from $335.2 million in 2018. It’s record was $352.8 million in 2011.
In 2019, the Detroit casinos contributed $117.8 million in gaming taxes to the state, a slight increase from $117 million in 2018. The city of Detroit received $184.2 million in wagering taxes and development agreement payments from the three commercial casinos, up from $182.9 million in 2018.
