MICHIGAN — With online sports betting now live in Michigan, analysts are predicting it could bring in millions of dollars in tax revenue.
At 12:00pm Friday afternoon, 10 companies launched their online betting platforms in the state. 5 more are expected to launch in the near future.
“When the market matures, we're talking about $50 million probably for the state of Michigan in tax revenue,” said Matt Schoch, a gambling analyst for PlayMichigan.
"We're talking about maybe $8 billion in sports bets annually here in the state of Michigan when the market matures, as time goes on."
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Schoch says New Jersey saw about $6 billion in wagers in 2020.
It hasn't been a quick road to get to this point. Schoch says “It's been about 2016 that they started putting bills in Lansing to make this happen. They had it almost figured out in 2018, but then Governor Rick Snyder vetoed it at the last minute."
A year later, Governor Whitmer would sign those bills into law.
Schoch says he is excited to see how the platforms that tribe-owned casinos in West Michigan launch fare against more corporate options like FanDuel and DraftKings.
"Particularly Four Winds down in New Buffalo and Firekeepers in Battle Creek, Soaring Eagle in Mount Pleasant, they're going to have their own self-branded apps."
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