Michigan Online Gambling Launch Date: January 2021

The first wave of the Michigan online gambling sites launched on January 22nd, 2021, making Michigan the fifth state to offer legal, regulated online casino games and the thirteenth state with mobile sports betting.

After pushing up its proposed launch date from Q1 2021 to Q4 2020, only to set a firm date of mid-January, the first Michigan online casinos and gambling apps (see our full list below) will be available to anyone in the state of Michigan aged 21 or older.

Here is a quick look at the ten operators the Michigan Gaming Control Board approved to launch:

1. BetMGM Michigan
2. BetRivers Michigan
3. DraftKings Michigan
4. FanDuel Michigan
5. Caesars Michigan
6. PointsBet Michigan
7. TwinSpires
8. Golden Nugget Online
9. WynnBET
10. Barstool Sportsbook

Eight of the ten operators will offer online sports betting and online casino games, the exceptions being Barstool and PointsBet, which will begin their Michigan lives as sportsbook-only operators.

In this column, you’ll find the timeline of Michigan online gambling sites, a list of operators that are now live, and a look at other operators that will soon launch in the Wolverine State.

Key Events in Michigan Online Gambling Expansion

• December 20, 2019: Online casino and poker, retail and mobile sports betting, and daily fantasy sports are legalized following the passage of several gaming bills.
• March 11, 2020: The first retail sportsbooks open. Within weeks, professional sports leagues would begin suspending their seasons and the state’s casinos are forced to close their doors as the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the country.
• Summer-Fall 2020: Michigan casinos reopen, and sports leagues resume play.
• Q4 2020: the state hopes to fast-track its online gambling launch to get its online casino and sports betting industries up and running as soon as possible.
• State regulators and legislators ok the launch of online gambling sites, which are expected in mid-January.
• Michigan’s online gambling websites are open for business.
• The launches of online poker sites in the state are still to be determined.

Important links:

• Betting USA’s Michigan betting resource page.
• Michigan’s Internet Gaming, Internet Sports Betting and Fantasy Contests Acts.
• Draft rules for internet sports betting.
• Draft rules for online casino and poker.
• Regulatory Impact Statement for online sports betting.
• Regulatory Impact Statement for online casino and poker.

The Michigan Gambling Landscape

Michigan has a total of 26 casinos. There are three commercial casinos in the Detroit area, and 23 tribal casinos scattered across the state. With low barriers to entry set by the state, each casino is expected to have some level of involvement in the state’s fledgling online gambling industry.

Commercial Casinos and Online Gambling in Michigan

The three commercial casinos have launched retail sportsbooks, and have partnerships in place for mobile sports betting and online gambling offerings:

1. MGM Grand Detroit – Roar Digital (BetMGM)
2. GreekTown Casino – Penn National Gaming (Barstool Sports)
3. MotorCity Casino Hotel – FanDuel

Complete List of Tribal Casino Online Gambling Operators

12 tribes operate a total of 23 tribal casinos in the state. Several have opened retail sportsbooks, and most have partnered with a sports betting provider.

Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan – Partner: Unknown

• Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
• Saganing Eagles Landing Casino

Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians – Partner: GAN

• Kewadin Casino Christmas
• Kewadin Casino Hessel
• Kewadin Casino Mantisique
• Kewadin Casino, Hotel & Convention Center, Sault Saint Marie   
• Kewadin Shores Casino, St. Ignace

Wynn will launch online gambling products in Michigan through GAN’s market access deal with the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians – Partner: Kambi

• Four Winds Dowagiac   
• Four Winds Hartford      
• Four Winds New Buffalo

Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians – Partner: Scientific Games

• FireKeepers Casin Hotel and Sportsbook, Battle Creek

Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians – Partner: The Stars Group (FOX Bet and PokerStars)

• Odawa Casino, Mackinaw
• Odawa Casino Resort, Petoskey 

Little River Band of Ottawa Indians – Partner: Rush Street Interactive (BetRivers)

• Little River Casino & Resort, Manistee

Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians – Partner: PointsBet

• Northern Waters Casino Resort, Watersmeet

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community – Partner: Golden Nugget

• Ojibwa Casino, Baraga  
• Ojibwa Casino, Marquette

Hannahville Indian Community – Partner: Churchill Downs (TwinSpires/Bet America)

• Island Resort & Casino, Bark River

Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan – Partner: Parx

• Gun Lake Casino, Wayland

Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians – Partner: William Hill

• Leelanau Sands Casino, Suttons Bay        
• Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel, Williamsburg            

Bay Mills Indian Community – Partner: DraftKings

• Bay Mills Resort & Casino, Brimley
• Kings Club Casino, Brimley

A State Gambling Launch Two Years in the Making

Michigan’s road to online gambling began in 2016, with a bill from Sen. Mike Kowall and a handful of other state senators. That bill kicked off a multi-year effort to legalize online casino gambling, online poker, and eventually, daily fantasy sports, sports betting, and more.

Far from being a smooth ride, the journey was bumpy, with a few detours along the way.

After legislation bounced around the statehouse for several years, the legislature managed to push a gambling package across the finish line in December 2018, only to see then-Governor Rick Snyder veto the legislation.

The legislature moved forward with a similar package in 2019. After another end-of-session vote on a comprehensive gambling package, Snyder’s successor, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, signed her name on the bottom line, officially legalizing online gambling and sports betting in the state.

The hope was Michigan would act with alacrity. Instead, the state took its time rolling out its new gambling verticals, and the result is a launch some 13 months after Gov. Whitmer signed the gaming bills into law.

Who Will the Big Players Be in the Michigan Online Casino Industry?

Michigan online gambling is going to be an extremely competitive market. The state boasts three commercial casinos and 23 tribal casinos operated by 12 tribes. Each of these properties can launch an online casino app.

A complete list of the state’s current and future gambling sites and their known partners can be found here.

Below we will focus on the more prominent online casino operators we expect to make a splash in the Michigan market.

BetMGM Has Momentum on its Side

BetMGM is associated with the MGM Grand Detroit Casino. The company’s online offerings have been steadily gaining market share since it prioritized the US market last summer.

With a local casino brand to build off, BetMGM can potentially be a Top 3 operator in the market.

Michigan Will Be Barstool’s Second Big State

Barstool will enter Michigan through GreekTown Casino, a Penn National casino. The company has gobbled up market share in Pennsylvania (the only other state its mobile app has gone live). It has established itself as the clear number three operator in the market in just a few months, trailing only FanDuel and DraftKings.

That’s an impressive achievement considering it was a late arrival to the Pennsylvania sports betting market. Michigan is Barstool’s opportunity to demonstrate what it can do when it launches on equal footing.

Rush Street Is a Known Entity in the Midwest

Illinois-based Rush Street will launch its BetRivers brand in Michigan through a partnership with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians.

BetRivers has had some successes and flops so far, and the company’s land-based presence in those markets seems to play a significant role. Rush Street doesn’t operate a casino in Michigan, but it does in Illinois, which gives it some familiarity with Michigan gamblers.

No Reason to Doubt FanDuel and DraftKings

FanDuel is partnered with the MotorCity Casino Hotel, the third of the three commercial casinos in Michigan.

DraftKings gained access to the Michigan market via a partnership with the Bay Mills Indian Community, which operates two casinos in the Wolverine State.

 FanDuel and DraftKings are number one or number two in every market they’ve entered, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t have the same results in Michigan.