The Michigan Gaming Control Board on Monday reported $170.8 million combined in February for gross internet casino gaming revenue and gross mobile sports wagering revenue, with the earnings from both down notably from January.
The $148.1 million generated in internet casino revenue was down 3.6% from January’s record $153.7 million total. It was also 20.7% higher than the $122.8 million total reported for February 2022. The state was able to levy taxes on close to $133.3 million in adjusted gross receipts, resulting in nearly $26.3 million in tax revenue to Michigan.
The city of Detroit received just over $7 million in tax revenue, while tribes disbursed more than $3 million to local jurisdictions.
Gross revenue for internet sports wagering operators was just shy of $22.7 million, a decline of 32.6% versus January’s $33.6 million figure. There was also a steep decline in mobile handle, as the $344.9 million in accepted bets was down 27.5% compared to January and 13.4% versus last February.
In part due to Super Bowl promotional offers, the adjusted sports wagering revenue for February was only $8.9 million, the lowest monthly amount since operators claimed only $5 million last June. It was still a notable year-over-year improvement, though, considering operators reported a combined loss of nearly $4 million in 2022. The state received $583,263 in tax revenue from sports wagering, while Detroit had an inflow of $337,534 into city coffers.
DraftKings sets all-time iCasino revenue record
Despite the decline in overall internet casino revenue, DraftKings bucked the trend by setting its new monthly revenue record with $26.9 million. It was the sixth consecutive monthly record for the online titan, a run that started when it generated $21.9 million last October. February’s total was the third consecutive month revenue surpassed $26 million.
The figure accounted for nearly half of the $60.2 million in iGaming revenue from the state’s 12 tribes, down 1.4% from the record $61 million generated to start the year. It also represented a 26.5% improvement from the $47.6 million posted in February 2022.
Four other internet casino operators — WynnBET, Soaring Eagle, Parx, and PointsBet — also posted month-over-month increases. WynnBET had an 18% increase in revenue to more than $5.4 million, while Soaring Eagle was up 4.1% to over $2.5 million. Parx reported a 9% uptick to more than $1.9 million, while PointsBet surged 27.6% higher to close to $1.5 million.
Among internet platforms tethered to Detroit’s three casinos, FanDuel set an all-time monthly revenue high of close to $29.5 million, an increase of 1.9% from January. It was the only one of the trio to make gains from January, as BetMGM revenue slipped 8.3% to $48.4 million and Barstool Sportsbook and Casino — tethered to Greektown — had a 19.5% drop to $3.3 million.
FanDuel continues roll as sports wagering leader
Running Top 10 #SportsBetting handle for February by state:
1 New York $1.47B
2 New Jersey $847.4M
3 Pennsylvania $599.5M
4 MICHIGAN $357.2M <—NEW
5 Indiana $356.2M
6 Maryland $339.4M
7 Tennessee $327.3M
8 Louisiana $197.7M
9 Kansas $194M
10 Iowa $193.9M#GamblingTwitter— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) March 20, 2023
FanDuel continued to be Michigan’s leader in mobile sports wagering handle and gross revenue, pacing the state with $122.7 million in the former and $13.9 million in the latter. It marked the eighth consecutive month FanDuel posted a hold of 10.6% or better, though handle dropped 18.2% from January’s $150 million.
The online titan also appeared to have aggressively sought business, reporting promotional revenue of $5.5 million for February. That total was well above the promotional revenue from the other two largest internet operators, as DraftKings reported $3.9 million and BetMGM had $2.5 million.
DraftKings, though, finished with adjusted revenue totaling nearly $710,000 in the red as it reported a 3.6% win rate on $89.5 million handle to gross $3.2 million in revenue.
BetMGM endured a severe drop in handle, plummeting 43.3% from $110.5 million in January to $62.6 million in February. Gross revenue, however, dropped only 8.3% to $3.1 million, as its win rate was nearly two percentage points higher at just shy of 5%.
BetRivers and Barstool Sportsbook also finished in the red for adjusted revenue in February, with BetRivers down more than $276,000 on $8.8 million handle and Barstool more than $209,000 under the break-even mark. It was the second-largest monthly adjusted loss for BetRivers since launching in Michigan, while Barstool has posted back-to-back monthly losses in adjusted revenue and has started the year more than $553,000 in the red.
Caesars Sportsbook joined FanDuel and DraftKings as the only mobile operators to surpass $1 million in gross revenue, topping $1.1 million from $22.7 million handle. Gross revenue was down 40.2% versus January, as its 5.1% win rate for February was nearly 1.2 percentage points lower than the previous month.
WynnBET narrowly avoided a second straight losing month, coming out just $1,566 ahead in gross revenue from $1.6 million wagered for a 0.1% hold in February. Firekeepers Casino, which has its own mobile sportsbook, snapped a four-month run of negative gross revenue, claiming more than $29,000 from $1.3 million in accepted wagers.
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