Online Casinos in Michigan Pool Record-Extending $151 Million in June 2023

The fine run at Michigan online casinos do not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. And with June’s revenue stats now released by the Michigan Gaming Control Board, there is absolutely no doubt that online gambling would end 2023 with an all-time record. Interestingly, June displaced May as the fifth all-time monthly casino and also extended the run of months with $140 million revenue and above to nine.

This meant June was a slight jump from May 2023 and also a massive increase from June 2022. Year-to-date figures also point to a better half-year record than experienced in the previous year.

According to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, online casinos in the state recorded $151 million with some change to spare in June 2023. This revenue marked a 24.3% increase from a year-over-year perspective as against the $121.5 million gross receipts pooled in June 2022. But compared to May 2023, the past month’s revenue was only a 0.3% increase.

In May, internet gaming in the Wolverine State generated $150.6 million, becoming the fifth highest lifetime revenue in state records. However, June’s figures now means that the past month now occupies that position. But not just that, the month has now become the ninth consecutive month where Michigan online casinos have recorded $140 million or more in monthly revenue.

October 2022 saw the iGaming in the Great Lakes State pull its weight, eventually ending the month with $140.9 million in revenue. While October 2022 set the then record for highest ever monthly revenue, it would be displaced by the gross receipts recorded for the next three months.

With the new monthly record now March 2023’s massive $171.8 million revenue, each revenue since November 2022 has been at least $4.5 million higher than October’s defunct record.

Winter months have proven to be generally good for online casino gaming while summer months tend to offer opposite outcomes. Nevertheless, June, and indeed the year to date, has impressed stakeholders. As it stands, Michigan’s lifetime online casino revenue now stands above $3.5 billion, while half-year figures show a total revenue of $934.6 million.

Compared to the first half of 2022 where $757 million in revenue was recorded, half-year 2023 posted an approximate increase of 24%. More interestingly, Michigan online gambling revenue rose by $42.1% relative to the first half of 2021. In June, online casinos paid $28.4 million to state authorities and $10.6 million to local entities. All-time tax revenue from online casinos, however, crossed $900 million.

Following its current trajectory, and with post-summer months considered to be peak periods, Michigan online casinos are projected to hit $2 billion in yearly revenue at the end of 2023. Last year, the state attained $1.58 billion in total yearly revenue. But unlike that period, the state now has 15 active casinos, with most of them already fully settled in their second year of operation.

Again, BetMGM Casino MI emerged the top online casino by revenue with $49.2 million, considerably better than what it pooled in May 2023. The casino also topped $300 million in total iGaming receipts for half-year 2023, a 7.1% jump from the same period in 2022. Despite suffering its third monthly revenue decline in succession, FanDuel managed to stay ahead of DraftKings in June, although by a smaller margin compared to last month.

DraftKings Michigan Casino was the highest earner among tribal casinos with a revenue of $27.1 million. Its June revenue was about 40% of the gross receipts reported by tribal-owned iGaming brands. On the other hand, its closest competition, FanDuel, emerged the Detroit-owned online casino with the highest year-over-year in June with a revenue of $29 million.

Fortunately for Barstool iCasino, it was able to shake off the disappointment of May being its second-lowest monthly revenue since August 2021. The Greektown online casino pooled $3.5 million, but it was not enough to remedy a 16.8% half-year period decline from last year.

Similarly, SI Online Casino saw its lowest revenue since mid-month launch in February, generating only $1.3 million. In the coming months, most casinos will now be looking to replicate the elusive success of March 2023 when Michigan sites briefly became country revenue leaders.