Michigan Legalizes Online Sports Betting
The gambling market in Michigan is developing, and it has been recently announced that nine casino operators can provide online sports betting. A few days later, the Michigan Gaming Control Board announced that the tenth operator was selected as well. The providers will start providing online sports betting after legalization in the state will be completed.
Earlier on December 10 of the past year, the Michigan Gaming Control Board has licensed 15 online platform gaming operators who support online sports betting and gaming. MGCB executive director, Richard S., claimed: “The MGCB now can approve provisional licenses following the filing of the administrative rules for online gaming and sports betting Dec. 2 with the Office of the Great Seal. The platform providers still must meet other regulatory requirements before online gaming, and sports betting can launch in Michigan. The launch fate will depend on how quickly they can fulfill the requirements.”
The providers’ list includes the popular companies in the gaming industry, such as Wynn, Rush Street, Golden Nugget Online gaming, FanDuel, BetMGM, William Hill, DraftKings, Barstool Sportsbook, and TwinSpires. The 10th operator is Lac Vieux Desert. The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians is currently operating on the Michigan Upper Peninsula’s Northern Water Casino Resort in Watersmeet.
The number of possible providers is not limited by 10, so Michigan announced that some other platforms and operators will be allowed to provide its services in the near future. In accordance with Michigan’s law, if platforms desire to provide online betting, they must partner up with a licensed casino in the state. After that, they can get authorization to start providing two gambling activity forms.
While the above-mentioned platforms and providers will launch online sports betting simultaneously with online casino gaming, Greektown will launch online gaming only in several days.
The Coronavirus pandemic led to the implementation of some restrictions, and as a result, loads of land-based casinos had to shut-down. For this reason, many states signed legal authorization for online gambling. However, online sports betting legalization in Michigan started earlier in 2019, and this event had been expected widely. Platform providers and casino operators have been hugely interested in the opening of online gaming in Michigan, but it has created plenty of negative emotions as well.
Most land-based casinos are currently forced to operate with limited capacity, while some spots are closed at all. Three casinos in Detroit, such as MGM Grand, Greektown, and MotorCity, faced revenue losses in the past year. At least, the total sum of wagering taxes and development agreement to the city was $73.8 million, and it’s much less compared to 2019.
It is expected that online gaming might improve the condition of the gambling industry and compensate for the loss it faced in 2020. The taxation rate for online gambling is between 20% and 28%, but online sports betting is going to be taxed at an 8.4% rate.
As far as the small businesses suffer financial losses because of the pandemic, they require extra support to get over these challenging times. That’s why Barstool and Penn National started their cooperation during the launch week, and the aim of this partnership is fund-raising for small businesses in Michigan and other states. Everyone eager to invest on their own can use the Barstool Sportsbook mobile application for making a deposit. After that, Penn National will match the money with donations to the appropriate fund.