Michigan

Is Sports Betting Legal in Michigan?

Since the beginning of 2020, sports wagering has been available in Michigan.

It kicked off a movement for legalized sports betting in MI on May 14, 2018, when the US Supreme Court invalidated a federal law that had essentially prohibited sports betting across the country. Even though there was legislation passed by the Legislature late last year to legalize and regulate online gambling, then-Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed it.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was inaugurated as Michigan’s 49th governor on January 1, 2019. In December of the same year, the lifetime Michigander signed off on a set of bills aimed at legalizing sports betting and online gaming within the state’s casinos.

Michigan Lawful Sports Betting Act was approved resulting in the launch of sports betting in March 2020 where the first bets were placed at MGM Grand, MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino. However, three days later these casinos had to be shut down as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

Then, lawmakers turned to the launch of online sports betting in Michigan. The deadline of late November 2020 was missed, but the state finally launched online sports betting on January 22, 2021 after all relevant regulations had been finalized.

Michigan Sports Betting Rules and Regulations

Responsibility of regulating Detroit’s three casinos (MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino Hotel, and Greektown Casino), including sports betting partners, is in the hands of the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB). It is also a responsibility of MGCB to regulate licensed online sports betting operators.

The retail sportsbooks of the tribal casinos are regulated by the National Indian Gaming Association and each respective tribe.

Let us now establish the most essential sports betting regulations in Michigan after telling you who is responsible for regulation.

• You must be 21 or older and inside state lines to bet on sports online. Michigan sports betting apps use geolocation technology to make sure that’s the case.
• You must enter the last four digits of your social security number to verify your age and identity when you sign up for an account with licensed sportsbooks in Michigan.
• You cannot bet with licensed betting sites in Michigan if you’re on any gambling self-exclusion lists. Sportsbooks cannot market themselves to anyone on a self-exclusion list, either.
• If you work for a gambling company that offers sports betting, a sports team or certain vendors, or own a certain amount of equity in either a sportsbook or a team, you may be ineligible to bet on certain events.

Michigan Sports Betting Tax

The Federal Government and Michigan State are responsible for several taxes on sports betting in the state of Michigan. You must know that the stake you get back does not account towards your winnings from such. In case you placed a bet of $10 and won $20, then you have taxable earnings of $10.

Tax is imposed on all forms of lottery winnings at 24% and state deducts 4.25%. Any win that exceeds 300 times the initial bet must be reported to the authorities as prescribed by federal laws, whereas any win exceeding $600 in value should result in W-2G form issued by payer.

Horse Racing Betting in Michigan

The lawmakers in Michigan, in 1933, approved wagering at pari-mutuel on horse races. Many thoroughbred and harness tracks have appeared and disappeared since then, Detroit Race Course and Hazel Park included; so what else horse racing bets are available for the residents of Michigan and foreigners?

Is Online Horse Betting Legal in Michigan?

The lawmakers of the state have given their nod to online horse race betting through the passing of House Bill 4310 that was signed by Gretchen Whitmer, the governor on December 20th, 2019, thus legalizing it. The passage of HB 4310 officially permitted any other third-party to apply for a license in order to accept online and mobile wagers.

Michigan launched online horse betting in July 2020, with TVG, the first national ADW platform to operate in the state, and many others such as TwinSpires and AmWager expected to enter the market soon.

Although exotic and straight bets dominate horse racing betting websites in Michigan with win, place, and show wagers as popular options, over 70% of all wagers involve exotics such as a Quinella, Exacta or Trifecta.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Michigan

The bad news is that there’s only one track left in Michigan, Northville Downs located about thirty miles west of Detroit. It was started in 1944 and has a half mile track where they conduct live racing between winter and spring as well as being open seven days a week for simulcast racing to other horse tracks in the United States.

There are hundreds of simulcast races from the whole country including prestigious races like Breeders’ Cup, Belmont Stakes and Kentucky Derby that you can bet on. Michigan has few off track betting locations but its only racecourse surviving pulls in gamblers from all parts of MI.

Fantasy Sports Betting in Michigan

Even though Michiganders could already take part in fantasy contest at FanDuel and DraftKings, the legalization of online sports betting in 2019 has made it possible for locals to do so in a regulated manner.

Daily fantasy sports in Michigan are regulated by the Michigan Gaming Control Board. License fees for DFS sites are $20,000 and annual renewals cost $5,000. Additionally, these enterprises are taxed at a rate of 8.4%. So that smaller enterprises can enter the market and compete with big companies like DraftKings and FanDuel, the government has put low taxes and moderate licensing fees into place.