Michigan Sports Betting Hold Sinks To 7.3% In August

• Michigan’s online sportsbooks reported $24.2 million in adjusted gross receipts in August, a 29.3% drop from a year earlier.
• Statewide hold fell to about 7.3% of every dollar wagered, down from roughly 10.1% a year ago.
• FanDuel and DraftKings combined for more than two-thirds of the month’s statewide revenue decline.
• BetRivers posted the steepest hold decline among the state’s 13 licensed sportsbook platforms.

DETROIT – Michigan’s sports betting hold sank to about 7.3% in August, down from roughly 10.1% a year earlier, as adjusted gross sports betting receipts fell 29.3% to $24.2 million even though handle dipped just 2.5% to $330.5 million, the Michigan Gaming Control Board reported Sept. 18.

Handle Barely Moved, Hold Did The Damage

Handle fell just 2.5% from August 2025, to $330.5 million from $338.9 million, but adjusted gross receipts fell more than 11 times as fast, at 29.3%, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board’s August report.

That gap shows up in the hold rate, the share of every wagered dollar the books kept: about 7.3% in August against roughly 10.1% a year earlier, computed as adjusted gross receipts divided by handle. Bettors, as a group, kept more of their money than they did a year ago even though they wagered almost the same amount.

The slide also widened from July. Handle fell 7.0% from July’s $355.2 million, while adjusted gross receipts fell 21.4% from $30.8 million, pulling the hold rate down from about 8.7% to 7.3% in a single month.

Combined iGaming and sports betting gross receipts totaled $337.6 million for the month, with sports betting’s $34.6 million in gross receipts making up about 10% of that total. Michigan’s figures are among a run of state-by-state August online sports betting revenue releases now landing, the same monthly data tracked market by market for the online sportsbooks that accept USA players.

FanDuel And DraftKings Drove Most Of The Slide

Michigan’s operator-by-operator revenue report ties each casino license to the platform it runs. FanDuel, operating through MotorCity Casino’s license, was the state’s largest platform by handle in August at $111.0 million, up 3.7% from July even as its adjusted gross receipts fell 21.3%, to $9.3 million from $11.8 million, as its hold dropped to 8.33% from 10.99%.

DraftKings, running through Bay Mills Indian Community’s license, took in $91.1 million in handle, down 8.0% from July, while its adjusted gross receipts fell 26.4%, to $6.0 million, on a hold that slipped to 6.56% from 8.19%.

Between them, FanDuel and DraftKings accounted for $4.65 million of the state’s $6.59 million monthly drop in adjusted gross sports betting receipts, or about 70.5% of the entire decline, even though the two platforms combined for only about 61% of statewide handle.

BetRivers’ Hold Fell Fastest, BetMGM Bucked The Trend

BetRivers, running through Little River Band of Ottawa Indians’ license, posted the field’s steepest hold decline. Its hold fell to 6.61% in August from 11.47% in July, a drop of nearly 5 percentage points, even as its handle rose 18.1%, to $6.2 million, and its adjusted gross receipts fell 32.0%, to $406,513.

Fanatics, running through Lac Vieux Desert Band’s license, posted a similar 30.0% adjusted-receipts decline as its hold fell to 7.64% from 9.72% on a handle that dropped 11.0%.

BetMGM, operating through MGM Grand Detroit’s license, moved the opposite way. Its hold rose to 9.79% in August from 8.16% in July, but its handle collapsed 19.9%, to $32.9 million, leaving adjusted gross receipts down just 3.9%, the smallest decline among the seven platforms that took more than $10 million in August handle. Seven of the state’s 13 active sportsbook licenses posted a lower hold in August than in July, MGCB figures show.

MGCB has posted each of this year’s monthly reports in the third week of the following month; September’s figures would be expected around the same point in October.