The online sports betting business in Michigan is expanding, with February sales topping $300 million.

Michigan is the most populous state in the US and the leading producer of automobiles. It is also unique among the 50 states in that it borders four of the five Great Lakes. Now add Michigan to that list, as citizens there gambled $301.9 million on sports in February, more than any other state in the first full month of operation.

According to PlayMichigan, Michigan's online gambling industry generated $115.2 million in wagers in the first 10 days of launch and continued to grow steadily through the end of the month, making it the sixth and earliest state to surpass that watershed.

Rise Anticipated:

February gross receipts for iGaming and sports betting combined in the Midwestern state totaled $89.2 million, with iGaming accounting for $79.7 million and sports betting for $9.5 million.

Richard S. Kalm, executive director of the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), reported that "strong interest in internet gaming and sports betting remained" in February despite the snow and cold. He continued by saying that the increase in online gaming taxes was to be expected after a complete month of gambling. This increase, according to Kalm, "means more funding for the City of Detroit, K-12 education, economic development, and tribal communities."

About $14 million of the nearly $14.1 million in February taxes and payments sent to the State of Michigan came from online gambling, with another $142,240 coming from online sports betting.

Swap in Interest Rates:

Seventy percent of the state's iGaming tax revenue comes from commercial operators, while eighty percent comes from tribal operators. According to the state's gaming regulation, the combined tax and payout rate can vary from 20% to 28% of annual adjusted gross earnings.

Meanwhile, for online sports betting, businesses pay the state's treasury 70 percent of the 8.4 percent tax and Detroit receives the remaining 30 percent. Additionally, 8.4 percent of tribal operators' net wins (after adjustments for stakes) are paid to the state.

The MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Greektown Casino, all managed by Penn National Gaming, paid $4,394,176 in wagering taxes and municipal service fees to the city of Detroit in February. Internet gambling taxes and fees accounted for $4,303,875 of that total, while online sports betting taxes and fees contributed $90,301.

A total of $1,336,633 was reported by tribal operators in the state to their respective regulating bodies as winnings from gambling.

In February, 12 operators in Michigan were approved by the MGCB to provide any type of online gambling.

With its adjusted revenue of $33,957,126.82 in January 2021 and $34,429,910.73 in February 2021, MGM Gran Detroit lead the state's three commercial casinos, all of which are still operating under capacity constraints. Second place went to MotorCity Casino with $33,176,437.46 and third place went to Greektown Casino with $19,646,777.44 and $20,792,514.49. This data comes from the MGCB (pdf).

Madness in March:

The annual NCAA college basketball tournament, which runs from the middle of March to the beginning of April, is a key contributor to the multi-billion dollar sports betting business in the United States. More than 47 million Americans will place wagers on the 2019 "March Madness" (NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament), according the American Gaming Association (AGA).

Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have passed laws legalising sports betting, and another seventeen have bills pending or have been filed that would do the same.