Several forms of real money online gaming are now live in the Wolverine State under a gambling expansion package signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Dec. 20, 2019.
The legislation was the result of a years-long push by iGaming proponents to bring the activity out of the shadows of the unregulated market, which will help Michigan capture additional tax revenue. Consumer protections are also in place to protect player funds and those with problematic gambling behavior.
What follows is a brief look at the long road toward the legalization of internet gaming in Michigan.
Inside the provisions of HB 4311
The Lawful Internet Gaming Act authorized a wide array of online games for the brick and mortar gaming venues in the state. It was a much-needed shot in the arm for the industry, spelling out the following:
- Wagering is available to anyone 21 or older within Michigan borders
- Commercial and tribal casinos can offer online poker, slots, and table games
- A casino operator can have one “skin”– or online brand — for online poker and one skin for an iCasino
Taxes and fees for operators:
- A tiered tax structure is created for internet gaming
- There’s a graduated tax rate of 20% for adjusted gross receipts less than $4 million, up to 28% for AGR greater than $12 million; Detroit casinos also pay 1.25% to the city of Detroit
- Costs include a $50,000 application fee, $100,000 for a five-year license, and $50,000 to renew
- For an internet gaming supplier, costs are $5,000 for an application fee, $5,000 for a license, and $2,500 for annual renewal
- 65% of tax revenue is allocated to a newly created Internet Gaming Fund, with the bulk going to the Michigan School Aid Fund, a major sticking point for the governor; another 30% will go to policing and other public safety programs in the state and the remaining 5% will be used to prop up the horse-racing industry
- Online sites can deduct 10% worth of free play from their gross receipts for the first three years, and then 6% in year number four and 4% in the fifth year
Inside the provisions of HB 4916
The Lawful Sports Betting Act technically wasn’t needed in Michigan for brick-and-mortar sportsbooks to exist. However, the Detroit casinos didn’t want to pay a nearly 20% tax on sports wagering revenue, like they do for slots and table games. Hence, they waited for a new law with a lower tax.
The new law also allowed for online/mobile sports betting as another key component. Online betting could not have taken place without the Lawful Sports Betting Act. Among the other provisions:
- Anyone 21 or older within Michigan borders may set up an online sports betting account
- Collegiate and professional sports are legal for betting after MGCB approval
- Commercial and tribal casinos can offer online/mobile sports betting under regulation of the Michigan Gaming Control Board, a novel setup and “compromise” in the nascent non-Nevada U.S. market, bringing both federally-recognized tribes and commercial entities together under one regulatory body
- Both tribal and commercial casinos can open retail (physical) sportsbooks/lounges
- One sports betting skin is available per operator
Taxes and fees on operators:
- The state tax is 8.4% on sports betting revenue, plus 1.25% to Detroit for the city’s commercial casinos; the more than 20 tribal casinos will not pay the additional 1.25%
- An Internet Sports Betting Fund is created
- Costs are $50,000 for an application fee, $100,000 for a one-year license, and $50,000 annually to renew
- It requires “official league data” for in-game wagers
Michigan online gambling legislative timeline
Michigan started to emerge as a contender for online betting around the time New Jersey threw its hat into the ring, but it took a few years for efforts to materialize in Lansing.
2016
Michigan kicked things off with an internet gambling bill in April from Sen. Mike Kowall, a Republican. The bill allowed both commercial and tribal casinos to offer online betting. Under the proposal, online betting revenues would have been taxed at 10% and operators would have paid a $5 million licensing fee, though that was an advance on taxes owed. The legislation had some success in committee, but it ended up falling by the wayside in the Senate in December of 2016.
2017
Kowall was back at it in early 2017, and a handful of other proposals surfaced in the early spring. Legislation again cleared the Senate Regulatory Reform Committee despite concerns about cannibalization of existing gambling revenue and how the legislation would square with tribal gambling compacts.
Legislation from Rep. Brandt Iden, a Republican, surfaced in the House in September. Michigan commercial casinos were still in support of the general concept of iGaming in the state, though they had problems with some of the details of the proposals. Iden’s bill advanced through the House Regulatory Reform Committee in December, setting up optimism for the bill’s prospects in 2018 despite a lack of tribal support. The Detroit casinos had warmed to Iden’s bill. Kowall, who previously led the online betting charge, was set to retire in 2018 after hitting his term limit.
2018
Iden’s bill stirred to life in May with a new proposed tax rate of 8% and provisions allowing tribes to offer online gambling under their respective compacts. The law ended up putting the tribes under the regulation of the Michigan Gaming Control Board for online gambling only. Iden’s bill didn’t gain traction until clearing a full House vote in June and moving to the Senate. The high-profile PASPA ruling of May 2018 resulted in Iden’s online gambling bill also including provisions for the MGCB to regulate online sports betting.
In Michigan, the commercial casinos could have offered retail sports betting in the absence of a new state law, but the tax rate for slots and table games (nearly 20%) was too high for the properties. Iden’s bill called for a less than 10% rate on all forms of online wagering.
The bill was taken up in the fall when lawmakers returned to Lansing, and it passed the Senate just several days before Christmas. It was finally on the desk of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. However, Snyder surprised many by vetoing the legislation, citing concerns that it would impact the iLottery and the state’s School Aid Fund. He left the issue up to Whitmer, a Democrat who would take office in 2019.
2019
Iden continued the push in March 2019 by sponsoring the Lawful Sports Sports Betting Act in addition to a reboot of the Lawful Internet Gaming Act. Sports betting had its own bill this time around. Whitmer ended up asking for significantly higher tax rates than those in the bill that Snyder had vetoed. She wanted 15% for sports betting and up to 40% for casino.
At one point in the summer, Whitmer was seeking the exclusion of online slots out of concern that they would cannibalize iLottery revenue. Iden argued that iCasino and online lottery have different customer bases.
In late October, both bills cleared the House despite Whitmer not yet being in full support. Negotiations with the governor continued and a final deal was reached, enabling the gambling expansion package to overwhelmingly clear the Senate on Dec. 11. Whitmer signed it a little over a week later.
2020
In-person sportsbooks at several casinos were ready to roll out their services for the March 2020 date proposed by the MGCB and did so successfully for a short time. Of course, we all know what happened next: the entire world became gripped by a pandemic, forcing temporary closures across the board, including in the Michigan gambling industry.
Behind the scenes, operators were still wheeling and dealing in anticipation of soon being able to offer online wagering after the MGCB began accepting license applications in May 2020. This was done in an attempt to fast-track the online betting industry and capture some desperately needed revenue for the faltering economy, but was still not expected to lead to a launch of online platforms until late 2020 at the earliest.
The “summer that never was” dragged on, with brick-and-mortar casino locations and their in-person sportsbooks carefully re-opening to the public. From a legislative standpoint, despite delays, numerous pieces of legislation regarding online wagering were passed or clarified in hearings.
By the fall, the MGCB had held a public hearing regarding the laws on Michigan online betting platforms, interstate poker passed in the MI senate, and yet another shutdown swept the state. In a glimmer of hope, the MGCB awarded its provisional online wagering license to 15 providers, anticipating a mid-January 2021 launch.
2021
Jan 22, 2021– that’s the day the MGCB slated for the aforementioned providers to go live with their online betting platforms, and thankfully, no snags got in the way of that release date. Today, users can get online with a number of respected, well-rounded Michigan casino and Michigan sports betting providers both on mobile devices and their home computers. Poker is soon to follow, so we’re expecting that bettors in Michigan will have access to the full scope of legal online wagering in the US by mid-2021, including online interstate poker to the existing online casinos and sportsbooks.
Michigan land-based casino history
Michigan was the sixth state in the country to authorize some form of online casino play (Nevada is just poker). Its rich, land-based casino history helped pave the way to make it an early mover in the next frontier for the industry, involving the ubiquitous use of smartphones.
The Detroit gambling market turned 20 in July 2019, marking two decades since MGM Grand Detroit opened its doors. MotorCity Casino Hotel opened in December 1999, followed by Greektown Casino Hotel in November 2000. In 1996, Michiganders voted in favor of a ballot question to allow three casinos in Detroit. The state later enacted the Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act. It took a few years before the first property was built.
The state has had some form of tribal casino-style gambling for more than 30 years. Official casinos on tribal land were made possible by the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as well as early moves by Michigan to create revenue-sharing through negotiated compacts in 1993. Michigan now has 24 Class III casinos. The properties are operated by 12 Native American tribes with compacts. The closest is about 100 miles from Detroit, so tribal and commercial casinos are competing for their share of the new Michigan online betting market, live since January 2021.
With a robust tribal casino industry and one of the largest commercial gambling markets in the nation for a single metro area, Michigan is one of America’s most casino gambling-friendly jurisdictions. With gaming revenues plateauing over the last decade, officials were looking for a serious boost.
Michigan’s online gambling industry is expected to pull in revenues comparable with New Jersey’s, which began in 2013. Garden State online casinos took in a whopping $482 million in 2019, so Michigan online gambling will have a steep hill to climb to catch up– we’ll see how things shake out at the end of 2021.
