Detroit Casinos See Big September Sports Betting Handle Boost

Thank you, football. Sportsbooks at Detroit’s three commercial casinos saw the total sports handle for September nearly double August’s total.

Retail sports betting in September posted $32.528 million in total handle, up 99.8% compared to the $16.28 million in August, according to figures released Tuesday by the Michigan Gaming Control Board. The handle increased 121% year over year from September 2023’s $14.7 million. At that time, casinos were operating at 15% capacity because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Casinos were allowed to return to full capacity in July 2024.

Michigan online sports betting figures will likely be released later this week or early next week. The online numbers usually follow retail casino and sportsbook numbers by several days.

Retail sports betting saw a solid increase at retail locations, coming in at $3.5 million in revenue, up $1.85 million from August’s $1.65 million, according to the MGCB. This is due in large part to the start of the NFL and college football regular seasons.

MGM Grand Detroit and its BetMGM Sportsbook recorded the highest sports betting qualified adjusted gross receipts (QAGR) at $1,341,262. MotorCity, with a FanDuel Sportsbook, was second at $1,237,488 with Greektown and Barstool Sportsbook rounding out the list at $883,813.

The three casinos paid $130,885 in sports betting taxes to the state and $159,970 in sports betting taxes to Detroit.

Casino Revenue Down Slightly

The three commercial casinos — MGM Grand Detroit, Greektown and MotorCity — had $110.4 million in monthly aggregate revenue in September, down $3.42 million from August figures, a 4.7% decline.

In other Michigan gaming, table games and slots also saw a slight decline to $106.9 million in September, a $5.27 million decrease from August’s $112.17 million.

Detroit casinos reported $87.9 million in monthly aggregate revenue during September 2023 with the capacity limits. In September 2019, the casinos reported $112.3 million in monthly aggregate revenue.

MGM Remains Leader

MGM Grand Detroit led the land-based casinos with $154.4 million in revenue last month, up from August’s $52.24 million and a 138.4% increase from September 2023.

MotorCity followed at $111.6 million (95% increase from last year), while Greektown came in at $68.8 million (95% increase from 2023).

The three Detroit casinos paid $27.1 million in taxes for gambling to the state of Michigan, compared with $12.7 million in September 2023.

For September, fantasy contest operators reported total adjusted revenues of $920,250 (down $1.124 million in August) and paid $77,301 in taxes.

Fantasy contest operators reported aggregate fantasy contest adjusted revenues of $10.4 million (up from August’s $9.4M) and paid $869,543 in state taxes through Aug. 31.