(CORRECTS GROSS REVENUE TOTAL TO $48.8 MILLION and DRAFTKINGS to $8.8 MILLION)
The Michigan Gaming Control Board reported $48.8 million in gross internet sports wagering revenue for December on Monday, enough for the overall revenue amount to clear $50 million for the third time in the final four months of 2022.
It was a strong finish for the Wolverine State’s 15 online sportsbooks, who pounded the public to attain a 10.2% hold on $478.7 million in handle. The overall online operator win rate for the year was 8.8% on $4.6 billion in wagers accepted, an improvement of nearly four-fifths of a percentage point compared to 2021.
December marked the fourth time total sports wagering revenue in the state surpassed $50 million in a month, with the only other time prior to this year coming in November 2021. The all-time monthly revenue totals ranked second through fifth occurred in the final four months of this year, all slotting behind the record $58.8 million amassed in November 2021.
The $399.6 million in gross online sports wagering revenue was a year-over-year increase of 36.8%, while handle was up 24.5%. In dollars, online handle was up $895 million, while the overall amount of $4.8 billion in retail and online wagering was up 21.4%.
The state was able to levy taxes on $30.8 million in adjusted online revenue, resulting in $1.9 million in tax receipts. The city of Detroit reported $808,000 in tax receipts for the final month of the year from online operators and had an inflow of $6.7 million for the 2022 calendar year. Overall state taxes totaled $14.5 million in 2022, nearly $6.2 million more than the previous year.
FanDuel wins big, BetMGM second in revenue
“FanDuel had another big month.”
That’s perhaps the most common refrain in 2022 where sports wagering is legal in the United States when it comes to revenue reports. In Michigan, the online titan again dropped the hammer on the betting public to cap the year, setting a state record with $21.1 million in gross revenue. FanDuel had a hold of 4.5% — the sixth straight month it was 10.6% or higher — on $146.1 million in handle.
For the year, FanDuel had a sizzling 11.9% win rate on $1.4 billion wagered, resulting in close to $163.5 million in gross revenue. Slightly less than 70% of that total was eligible to be taxed, as the $112 million in adjusted receipts led to $6.6 million worth of tax receipts.
DraftKings was the only other operator to clear $1 billion handle in the Wolverine State, but while BetMGM finished about $9 million shy of that benchmark, it was runner-up to FanDuel in gross revenue thanks to a strong second half of 2022. BetMGM had a year-best $11.3 million in gross revenue, second only to its $12.7 million haul from November 2021, as its 11.4% hold was the fifth time in eight months it reached 11% or better.
BetMGM finished the year with $97.5 million of gross revenue thanks to a 9.8% win rate, while DraftKings — despite accepting $160 million more in wagers — finished with $26.8 million less in revenue due to a more pedestrian win rate of 6.2%. BetMGM’s more aggressive promotional spend, however, narrowed the gap in adjusted revenue between the two competitors to $13.6 million, as it finished with $47.3 million eligible to be taxed.
Speaking of taxes, Caesars Sportsbook made its first contributions to state coffers from sports wagering since June 2021 after finishing December with $2.3 million in adjusted revenue following deductions from a gross revenue total of $3.3 million. Caesars methodically dug its way out of an $8 million deficit in adjusted revenue over the final seven months of the year, providing $20,123 to the state fund in the final month of the year.
Barstool Sportsbook climbed back over $30 million in monthly handle, but its second consecutive sub-5% hold resulted in only a small uptick in gross revenue to $1.3 million. Its year-over-year numbers for both handle and gross revenue were down slightly, though its adjusted revenue of $19.4 million was 30.8% higher than 2021.
BetRivers crossed $10 million in accepted wagers for the first time, but its 2.3% hold on gross revenue also contributed to an adjusted loss of $168,000 for the final month of the year and a swing of $300,000 to the negative from November. It was one of three books to report monthly losses in adjusted revenue, along with Firekeepers and Parx, though Firekeepers paid out $22,000 more than the $2.2 million in bets taken in.
Parx, which operates through Gun Lake Casino, has yet to report positive adjusted revenue in any month since launching operations in August 2021. While gross revenue in those 17 months is about $2 million, adjusted revenue is minus-$1.8 million.
Month-over-month handle down, revenue up
In stacking last month’s numbers against November 2022 and December 2021, handle was down on both counts, declining 0.7% versus November and 3.8% from the final month of 2021.
Revenue, however, was notably higher, as the month-over-month haul for operators picked up 17.5% and was 40% higher compared to December 2021, as this year’s win rate was more than three percentage points higher. The $32.4 million in adjusted revenue was an increase of 17.7% compared to November and 167.8% compared to December 2021, more than double the $12.1 million to close out that year.
Retail handle from Detroit’s three casinos totaled $16.1 million, with operators claiming a 10.3% hold from $1.7 million in gross revenue. Motown’s brick-and-mortar sportsbooks generated $263.7 million handle for 2022, keeping $19.1 million in gross revenue for a 7.2% win rate.
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