Betting in Maryland
Online Betting In Michigan
When Michigan passed its online wagering and iGaming package in late 2019, it set up one of the country’s most comprehensive digital gambling frameworks. The state spent 2020 laying the regulatory groundwork before launching sports betting and online casinos on the same day in January 2021 - a dual release no other state has pulled off.
Online sports betting runs through a broad licensing system tied to Michigan’s three commercial casinos and twelve tribal properties. Each can partner with one sportsbook and one online casino, creating one of the deepest operator fields in the country from day one - FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, BetRivers, Fanatics, theScore, bet365, and multiple tribal-affiliated brands.
Regulation is overseen by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), which manages licensing, compliance, advertising standards, responsible gaming, and all online wagering activity. Michigan’s regulatory style is firm but pragmatic: operators face tight reporting requirements, but without the heavy procedural drag seen in states like Massachusetts. The result is a stable, competitive market that consistently ranks among the top states in both handle and revenue.
Michigan is also one of only a handful of states with fully legalized online casino gaming - digital slots, table games, and live-dealer products. iGaming routinely outperforms sports betting by a wide margin, making Michigan a national leader in online gambling revenue and giving players the most complete betting menu available anywhere in the Midwest.
Legal Betting formats in Michigan TL;DR
- Online Sportsbooks
- DFS Traditional
- Prediction Markets
- Online Casinos
- Social/Sweepstakes Sportsbooks
- DFS Pick'Em
- Social/Sweepstakes Casinos
Unfamiliar with some of these betting formats? Read our beginner's guide to all type of legal betting in the US.
List of All Betting Platforms Operating In Michigan
Michigan has one of the broadest regulated betting ecosystems in the country, but the market doesn’t end with the licensed sportsbooks and online casinos. DFS and prediction markets each operate in their own legal lane, giving players access to formats and contest types that fall outside the state’s traditional wagering system.
To keep Michigan players grounded in what’s actually legal, we track and verify every platform operating within the state’s regulated and alternative betting landscape.
Below, you’ll find the most up to date and comprehensive list of places where Michigan residents can bet, play, or compete for prizes. Every platform has been vetted by our staff to confirm it meets the state’s legal standards.
All Michigan Betting Sites by Category
| Platform | Category | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Fanatics Sportsbook | Licensed Sportsbook | betfanatics.com |
| FanDuel Sportsbook | Licensed Sportsbook | sportsbook.fanduel.com |
| DraftKings Sportsbook | Licensed Sportsbook | sportsbook.draftkings.com |
| Caesars Sportsbook | Licensed Sportsbook | caesars.com |
| BetMGM | Licensed Sportsbook | sports.betmgm.com |
| BetRivers | Licensed Sportsbook | betrivers.com |
| theScore | Licensed Sportsbook | thescore.bet |
| betPARX | Licensed Sportsbook | betparx.com |
| Eagle Casino & Sports | Licensed Sportsbook | playeagle.com |
| FireKeepers Sportsbook | Licensed Sportsbook | firekeeperscasino.com |
| Four Winds | Licensed Sportsbook | fourwindscasino.com |
| Underdog Fantasy | DFS | underdogfantasy.com |
| FanDuel Fantasy | DFS | fanduel.com |
| DraftKings Fantasy | DFS | draftkings.com |
| Splash Sports | DFS | splashsports.com |
| RTSports | DFS | rtsports.com |
| Drafters | DFS | drafters.com |
| OwnersBox | DFS | ownersbox.com |
| Kalshi | Prediction Markets | kalshi.com |
| Polymarket | Prediction Markets | polymarket.com |
| Robinhood Predictions | Prediction Markets | robinhood.com |
| Crypto.com | Prediction Markets | crypto.com |
| DraftKings Predictions | Prediction Markets | predictions.draftkings.com |
| Webull | Prediction Markets | webull.com |
| PredictIt | Prediction Markets | predictit.org |
| ForecastEx (IBKR) | Prediction Markets | forecasttrader.interactivebrokers.com |
| Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) | Prediction Markets | iemweb.biz.uiowa.edu |
| Manifold | Prediction Markets | manifold.markets |
7 Quick facts about Michigan Betting
Michigan’s betting market is built on breadth: a large operator field, a unified regulator, and one of the strongest iGaming frameworks in the country. With sports betting and online casinos running under the same structure, the state offers a wider legal menu than almost any of its regional peers.
Below are the key facts that explain how the system works - the laws, partnerships, and regulatory choices that shape what Michigan players can bet on and how operators compete.
Michigan didn’t stagger its rollout the way most states did. After passing its online wagering package in late 2019, regulators spent all of 2020 preparing operators for a coordinated launch - and in January 2021, Michigan turned on sports betting and online casinos at the same time.
The impact was immediate: Michigan avoided the slow adoption curve you see in sports-only states. Instead of building liquidity in pieces, the market jumped straight into full maturity, with players moving seamlessly between sports, slots, tables, and live-dealer games from day one. That early dual rollout is a major reason Michigan remains one of the strongest digital gambling markets in the country.
At 8.4%, Michigan’s tax rate not only sits far below heavyweights like New York (51%) and Pennsylvania (36%), it’s also meaningfully lower than most of its regional peers, including Ohio (20%), Indiana (9.5%), and Wisconsin.
Low tax pressure gives operators more room to compete - and the effects show up exactly where bettors care: sharper average pricing, healthier promotional cycles, and fewer restrictions on market depth. Michigan books don’t need to tighten lines to offset tax drag, which creates a noticeably more player-friendly environment than high-tax states where operators hold more aggressively.
Michigan takes a wide-open approach to college wagering. While states like New Jersey, Vermont, Illinois, and Massachusetts impose in-state college restrictions, Michigan moved in the opposite direction and left the full college board available.
Here bettors can legally place bets on in-state teams, in-state events, player props, March Madness, conference championships - everything.
For players, that matters. Michigan is a high-profile college sports state, and unrestricted access to Michigan, Michigan State, Western, Central, Eastern, and every in-state event boosts both betting volume and market consistency throughout the NCAA calendar.
Michigan is part of a very small group - alongside New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut, and Delaware - with fully regulated online casino gaming. The state offers digital slots, table games, and live-dealer products through nearly all major operators.
And the numbers aren’t close. iGaming routinely generates several times the revenue of sports betting, and it does so year-round.
In 2023, Michigan’s online casinos generated $1.92 billion in revenue, compared to about $480 million in sportsbook revenue. That’s a 4:1 ratio - one of the widest gaps in the U.S.
Many states without iGaming allow sweepstakes sportsbooks and casinos to operate legally under federal sweepstakes law. Michigan is not one of them.
Here, regulators have taken an unusually strict stance: the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has repeatedly issued cease-and-desist orders to major sweepstakes-style operators, arguing that their prize-based casino games and pick-style sports formats constitute unlicensed gambling under state law.
The MGCB has publicly clarified that any site offering casino-style outcomes or sports-derived contests without a Michigan license would be treated as illegal gambling. As a result, the entire sweepstakes betting category exited the state.
Michigan regulates DFS under a dedicated statutory framework, giving operators like DraftKings and FanDuel clear rules and a stable long-term runway. Traditional salary-cap and tournament formats remain fully legal and widely available across the state.
Pick ’Em platforms, however, do not operate here. Michigan classifies fixed-prop, “vs. the house” Pick ’Em contests as sports betting, not fantasy - which means only licensed sportsbooks can offer them. Because DFS operators don’t hold sportsbook licenses, Pick ’Em has been effectively shut out.
Michigan prohibits wagering on elections, award shows, and other non-sporting events through licensed sportsbooks.
However, prediction markets operating under federal commodities law - aka those approved by the CFTC - are legal for Michigan residents. These platforms allow trading on elections, economic indicators, and cultural outcomes that traditional sportsbooks aren’t allowed to touch.
For players, it opens a separate, fully legal lane of speculation that sits outside Michigan’s gaming statutes entirely.
What Does Our Expert Think?
The reason Michigan’s market feels different is because the state designed its digital gambling economy around scale from day one. Tribes and commercial casinos were given equal footing, online operators had clear entry lanes, and regulators had the authority to manage two major industries under one system.
That early decision still defines the market. Michigan didn’t have to retrofit iGaming into a sports-only ecosystem the way New Jersey or Pennsylvania did years earlier. The rules, the licensing, the technical backbone - all of it was built to support two industries simultaneously. That’s why the operator bench exploded out of the gate: FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, BetRivers, Fanatics, theScore, bet365, and a slate of tribal-affiliated brands all went live in short order. It created a competitive environment from day one, with no slow ramp-up and no liquidity issues.
For bettors, that matters more than it looks. Michigan’s 8.4% tax rate is one of the friendliest in the country, and when you combine low tax pressure with a large operator field, you get exactly the type of pricing environment players want: sharper lines, more consistent promotions, and operators who can afford to compete without cutting corners. High-tax states squeeze bettors on hold percentage and bonus value; Michigan gives operators room to operate - and players feel the difference.
Then there’s the iGaming piece, which is where Michigan separates itself completely. Sports betting can be volatile - handle spikes during football season, drops in the summer, and swings with promotional strategy. Online casino gaming doesn’t. It generates steady revenue every month, and in Michigan’s case, it outperforms sports betting by a massive margin. That stability pushes operators to invest more heavily in product quality - deeper slot libraries, better table-game experiences, more polished apps, more competitive loyalty programs. Bettors get the benefit of an industry that’s mature, well-funded, and built to endure.
The flip side is that Michigan leaves very little room for alternative formats. DFS is fully legal and stable, but Pick ’Em contests - the fixed-prop, “vs. the house” products that exploded elsewhere - are classified as sports betting and effectively barred unless the operator holds a sportsbook license.
Sweepstakes casinos and sweepstakes sportsbooks don’t operate here either. The MGCB has taken a firm stance against unlicensed casino-style products, issuing cease-and-desist orders that pushed the entire category out of the state.
Prediction markets are the lone outlier. Operating under federal commodities law, they offer Michigan residents access to categories the sportsbooks can’t touch - elections, macroeconomic outcomes, cultural markets.
For bettors, the picture is straightforward: Michigan gives you one of the deepest and most complete regulated betting environments in the country. The sportsbooks offer competitive pricing, the online casinos are best-in-class, and the structure is stable enough that you don’t have to chase alternative formats just to find value.
If you’re looking for a market where the regulated lane is strong enough to stand on its own, Michigan is about as good as it gets - and if you know how to navigate the operator differences and shop lines intelligently, it’s a state where informed players can genuinely hold an edge.
