Michigan’s online casinos came online in early 2024 after the government pushed through the creation of a licensing framework and, furthermore, a seamless process to apply for licensing. It could have taken much longer for the Wolverine State to come online with its casinos, but a favorable process designed and pushed through by lawmakers move things along quickly.
One of the reasons Michigan state’s iGaming scene continues to grow is because that same smooth legal process is still in place. It allows online casinos to continue to enter the market, new software developers to produce casino games, and live dealer studies to open. All this is applicable as long as approved by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB).
The introduction of new software providers and live dealer studios is essential to attracting new players and continuing industry growth. After all, it is the games that allow the casinos to offer more diverse and exciting casino game portfolios.
Another factor helping Michigan’s iGaming scene blossom is that the brands currently holding state iGaming licenses in Michigan are mostly already successful in other states, such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
You can find all the best online casinos in MI bestmichigancasinosites.com here. MGM, Golden Nugget, PointsBet, BetRivers, and DraftKings are just a few big names you may have heard of already.
Key Contributors to Growth of Michigan Online Casinos
- Efficient licensing application process
- New software providers entering Michigan iGaming
- Live dealer studios from Evolution + Playtech
- Established online casino platforms opening in Michigan
The Growth of the Michigan Online Casino Market
We could cover the last one year’s worth of growth in Michigan in an entirely new article of its own. That’s because there is so much information out there. Many factors in the MI iGaming market are being closely recorded, such as revenue created via online ‘Table Games’, ‘Video Slots’, and ‘Poker’, and then the revenues of each online casino brand are also regularly published publicly.
However, we are going to give you the short version which will give you a pretty good idea of just how successful this market is, but if you want to do some further research, then by all means check out the MGCB internet gambling revenue stats here.
As of October 2024, the official figure showed:
- All online gambling: US$ 885 million in revenue since the market opened mid-January 2024
- Tax Dollars: The amount of tax paid so far is US$ 221 million, which is amazing for Michigan
Now we can look at the month-by-month figures:
- October 2024: US$ 110 million
- September 2012: US$ 102 million
- August 2024: US$ 97 million
- July 2024: US$ 92 million
- June 2024: US$ 89 million
- May 2024: US$ 95 million
- April 2024: US$ 95 million
- March 2024: US$ 95 million
- February 2024: US$ 80 million
- January 2024: US$ 29 million
New Live Dealer Studios Opening in Michigan State
One of the most attractive sides to table games today in the online casino arena is live dealer studios. The studio is a licensed casino premises with tables like roulette, blackjack, and baccarat hosted by real life dealers and croupiers.
However, there are no players physically sitting at these tables. Each table has an Ultra-HD camera rigged hooked up to it. Players zoom into the webcam and use the casino’s betting interface software to place bets while online. It is a form of online casino gaming that is extremely popular across LATAM, Asian, and European continents.
Which brands are available in Michigan?
- Evolution: The world’s number one live dealer brand with over 60 live titles available to players in Europe. Evolution is now conquering the US market. It already operates studios in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and Michigan is its 3rd studio in the States.
- Playtech: The world’s second largest live dealer brand simply because it is not present at as many online casinos as Evolution is, and Playtech Live currently has roughly 40 game titles so falls just short of Evolution.
One thing is for sure. The introduction of live dealer studios in Michigan has helped to increase the popularity of online casinos in the state. Players that do not want to play or maybe do not trust RNG (Random Number Generated) results produced by virtual table games can play live table games where they can see the action unfold with manual results as real-life dealers and croupiers produce the outcome naturally (non-computer-generated results).
Fast Licensing for Software Providers Entering the Michigan iGaming Scene
By far the most popular online casino game in Michigan is online video slots. This is true for much of the world, with the majority of the iGaming industry reporting slots as the principal source of revenue. Even though most people think of roulette, blackjack, poker, craps, and baccarat when the word casino comes up, it is still video slots that rule the roost in the popularity ratings.
All new software providers need to be approved by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), and the process in place to make this happen is extremely efficient.
- Route 1: The software provider forms a partnership agreement with one of the MGCB approved online casinos. Once satisfactory evidence that games are fair and random is produced, the casino brand can host those games in its casinos.
- Route 2: The software provider forms a partnership agreement with one of the MGCB approved casino game distributors. Now, this distributor will already need to have a partnership agreement with an online casino brand/platform. For example, Evolution uses Rush Street Interactive to distribute its Red Tiger games, while Rush Street distributes casino games to online casinos like BetMGM in Michigan.
With these processes in place, the Michigan iGaming market will continue to grow in popularity. The framework makes it easy for software developers like Red Tiger Gaming, NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, EGT Interactive, Playtech, and other top online casino software developers to bring their video slot titles to online casinos in the state.
Will Michigan State iGaming Continue to Grow?
The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) plays a huge role in the success of the iGaming market in the Wolverine State. Although it is based purely on USD and not cryptocurrency, with its current framework, we are seeing plenty of healthy competition between more than a dozen online casinos, and the diversity of the games available is widening as new software providers begin to form partnerships with companies already delivering online casino games to client-facing casino platforms. By the end of the year, we can fully expect the overall revenue for Michigan online gambling to exceed the US$ 1 billion mark.
