(WXMI) — It’s one of the most hallowed matchups, not just in college football but in all of sports, and this weekend The Game could drive Michigan’s best month of sports betting since it was legalized and went live in 2020.
“Michigan is the monster of online sports betting that we always suspected it would be,” said Matt Schoch, a writer for PlayMichigan. “Michigan-Michigan State undefeated, of course there’s not a lot of Lions things to bet on this year that are going to make fans happy around here, so this is the thing right now. This is going to be the biggest thing this fall.”
And The Game could very well propel Michigan to its best online sports betting month ever. In September, the state saw $350 million laid down in online sports bets.
“And with this Michigan-Michigan State game coming up this weekend, with five football weekends in October, you might be approaching $500 million in sports bets for the month of October,” said Schoch. “Going to certainly set a record here in Michigan.”
We may never know just how much The Game actually made in online bets — the Michigan Gaming Control Board doesn’t report numbers for individual games or sports. But individual operators can — and do — release their own amounts, and Schoch suspects they will.
READ MORE: Michigan operators report $127.4M in March gross internet gaming and sports betting receipts
“Operators probably will tell us after the weekend if it was the most bet-on college football game in the country for this particular weekend, which I suspect it will be and then maybe even for the entire season so far,” he said.
For a reference, Schoch thinks the amount placed on the Michigan-Michigan State game this weekend will halve the amount placed on this past year’s Super Bowl.
As for where to hinge your bets, Schoch can’t give out gambling advice, but said he was surprised to see Michigan as a 4.5-point favorite.
“I didn’t see it being over a field goal,” he said. “The fact that it’s like 4.5 right now as we record this, it’s a pretty big number. And it seems to be rising a bit, as it opened up at about 4 [points].”
So, State fans might want to hold off to see if that point spread rises, while Wolverine fans might want to place their bets now before Michigan winds up having to cover a bigger margin. Schoch says regardless, keep your eyes open for promotions.
You can watch The Game on FOX 17 Saturday, Oct. 30 starting at noon.
READ MORE: State tax revenue nears $90M just 6 months after online gambling goes live
