For Michigan’s sportsbook apps, August proved to be a fine month, with handle of $218.8 million amounting to a 6.1% increase from July’s $206.1 million.
And while that boost is significant, it may be even more telling to compare it to last year’s August and July numbers.
Michigan’s sportsbooks did $188 million in handle in July 2021 and another $192.3 million in August. That gain was only 2.2%, indicating that the annual summer swoon by bettors ended earlier this year. And, of course, there’s just the raw numbers — year-over-year, the sportsbooks took in nearly 14% more handle.
As for the individual sportsbooks? Things sure look different now than they did a year ago.
In August 2022, FanDuel dominated the market, with a handle of $72.4 million. DraftKings and BetMGM finished second and third, respectively, at $52.5 million and $45.1 million.
A look back to August 2021, however, shows DraftKings as having the best month — at $61.3 million, with FanDuel at $47.6 million and BetMGM at $43.7 million.
At that moment in time, DraftKings would routinely win the month-to-month battle over FanDuel, a trend that continued throughout the football season.
But FanDuel turned the tide in January and has held the handle lead throughout 2022. It will be worth watching what happens this football season: Will DraftKings’ football dominance from last year catapult the company back over the top? Time will tell.
Casino near-record
Meanwhile, on the casino app side … well, Michigan’s online casino players welcomed August’s heat by sitting down to play a little blackjack, Starburst, and countless other casino titles, leading to a $130.9 million haul for the operators, the third-highest total ever.
Last August? The gross receipts totaled $97.2 million, resulting last month in an almost unfathomable 35% year-over-year increase.
And the wealth was spread around, as BetMGM — the dominant player in the market — saw its year-over-year number go from $39.7 million to $49.3 million, “only” a 24% year-over-year increase.
So who made the biggest jumps when comparing August 2021 to August 2022?
That would be DraftKings, which saw its gross receipts go from $12.6 million to $19.3 million, and Caesars, which went from a paltry $822,343 to a much more robust $5.9 million. (At the time, Caesars was in the middle of rebranding itself from the William Hill moniker.)
All told, both the sportsbook and online casino operators had to be thrilled with the August results. They can only hope those numbers swell to new heights with the pigskin being tossed around once again.
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