The Michigan Gaming Control Board reported on Tuesday $159.4 million in gross internet casino revenue for the month of April, a notable falloff from March’s record haul but still the second-highest total in state history since launching in January 2021.
April’s revenue was 7.3% lower compared to March’s record haul of $171.8 million, but it also marked the fourth time in the last five months gross revenue has surpassed $150 million. February’s total fell $1.9 million shy of the benchmark, making it likely it would have cleared $150 million had the month had 30 or 31 days.
Last month’s total was 20.3% higher compared to the $132.4 million generated in April 2022 — which set a record that lasted until October, which triggered another run of monthly all-time highs until February’s blip. Total gross iGaming revenue has topped $633 million for the first four months of the year, running 24.6% above last year’s pace.
Internet sportsbook operators also had a strong April, claiming $36.3 million in gross revenue thanks to an 11.2% hold on $322.8 million handle. When including a slight loss for Detroit’s three retail sportsbooks, gross sports wagering revenue was just $25,000 shy of $36.3 million.
The state was eligible to levy taxes on $24.6 million of the total sports betting revenue amount, resulting in $1.7 million in tax receipts. The city of Detroit saw an inflow of $705,365 into its coffers from sports wagering for the month, lifting its total for the year to $2.6 million.
Internet casino gaming generated $29.4 million in state taxes. The city of Detroit collected nearly $7.5 million in receipts, while tribal jurisdictions disbursed $3.6 million. Overall state taxes from iGaming since launch have cleared $600 million, averaging more than $21.5 million per month.
Commercial and tribal iGaming revenue gap narrows
Internet casino gross revenue via Detroit’s three casinos slipped 8.9% from March to $86.3 million in April, while tribal gaming gross revenue declined 5.2% to $73 million. The gap of nearly $13.3 million between the two groups was the smallest since they were separated by $11.5 million in January 2022.
All three commercial casinos had month-over-month declines, though BetMGM did pace all operators with $51.2 million in gross revenue to clear $50 million for the sixth time in the last seven months. FanDuel‘s iGaming suite slipped to $31.3 million but still marked the first time the MotorCity Casino tether topped $30 million in back-to-back months. Greektown Casino’s Barstool-powered internet casino site dipped 12.6% compared to March, landing at $3.8 million.
The two tribal iGaming suites that had month-over-month improvements both set all-time monthly highs. Caesars, which operates through Grand Traverse, surged 21.9% to $8.7 million and wiped out its previous best of $7.2 million set last December. WynnBET, tethered to the Sault Ste Marie Chippewa tribe, claimed $5.7 million in gross revenue. That was up 20.6% from March, as it cleared $5 million for the sixth time in history and bettered November’s previous all-time high of $5.6 million.
DraftKings accounted for the bulk of the iGaming revenue on the tribal side, generating $28.1 million through Bay Mills.
BetMGM is the only internet casino platform to generate more than $200 million in gross revenue thus far this year, with FanDuel a distant second at $123.9 million.
A near-record hold for mobile sportsbooks
The 11.2% hold generated via online wagering was the third-highest since launch in January 2021, trailing only the 11.6% win rate fashioned that month and an 11.4% hold in November of that year. It was the eighth double-digit hold in the last 12 months of mobile betting, with the house claiming $418.4 million in gross revenue from nearly $4.4 billion handle in that span for a 9.5% win rate.
FanDuel led the parade of high holds, with April’s 15.1% resulting in $17.4 million in gross revenue from $114.9 million in accepted wagers. It was the 10th consecutive month FanDuel posted a hold of 10.6% or higher.
BetMGM also had a solid April despite a 28.7% decline in handle from March, keeping $6.4 million of the $55.1 million in wagers made for an 11.5% win rate. It has reported double-digit holds on gross revenue eight times in the past 12 months.
DraftKings had its fourth-highest monthly revenue haul at just shy of $9.2 million, aided by a hold of nearly 10.7%. It was the first time the online titan went above 10% since nearly cracking 12% last August.
BetRivers and Golden Nugget each finished with enough adjusted gross revenue to make their first tax payments of 2023. BetRivers, which absorbed nearly $445,000 in combined losses in December and February, chipped in $1,130 to state coffers after the $74,912 in AGR for April swung it to positive. Golden Nugget’s losses of $27,000 from January and February were fully erased after posting AGR of $43,000.
PointsBet, which is in advanced talks for its U.S. sports wagering component to be acquired by Fanatics, had a strong April with a hold just under 11.5% to claim $870,000 in gross revenue. The Aussie-based operator has surpassed $800,000 in gross revenue in seven of the last nine months.
Despite year-over-year handle slipping 12.2% to more than $1.6 billion, gross sports wagering revenue is up 12.9% to $139.2 million. Adjusted gross revenue has surged 64% versus 2022 to $84.4 million. That has contributed to state taxes running more than $1.7 million ahead of last year’s pace.
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