The Michigan Gaming Control Board reported -$28.2 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue for June on Thursday after BetMGM claimed a $48.2 million free play deduction from promotional bonuses and credits.

The monstrous deduction — as a point of reference, the state of Pennsylvania reported $43 million in gross revenue earlier Thursday — overshadowed a good month for operators. They claimed $31.8 million in gross winnings, fashioning an 11.2% hold against $285.2 million in handle.

Gross revenue was up 77.4% compared to June 2023 as the hold was nearly 3.6 percentage points higher than 12 months ago. Handle declined 19.6% from the $354.8 million in May, while gross winnings slid 25.6%.

BetMGM’s deduction resulted in a negative swing of $57.3 million in overall adjusted gross revenue among state operators from May. When removing the deduction, taxable revenue totaled $17.5 million, which resulted in $1.2 million in state taxes. Detroit received $433,000 in separate tax receipts.

1 New York $1.48B
2 New Jersey $748.4M
3 Mass. $509.4M
4 Penn. $464.5M
5 N.C. $398.3M
6 Maryland $384.7M
7 Tenn. $342.2M
8 Indiana $298.2M
9 MICHIGAN $285.2M
10 Iowa $146.7M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) July 18, 2024

It is unclear how long a period of time the deduction covers given BetMGM’s handle for June was $40.5 million. An MGCB spokesperson explained the online operator tethered to MGM Grand in Detroit had only taken some of its allowable free play deductions when it came to online sports betting in Michigan, which launched in January 2021. There was no timeline specified as to how long a period the deductions span.

Because Michigan mobile sportsbooks can carry over AGR losses until zeroing out their balance, BetMGM may not be paying state taxes until 2025 — its June AGR was a whopping -$45.7 million, and that swung its 2024 AGR to -$28.8 million. Using $3 million in average monthly AGR based on BetMGM’s $36 million in 2023 as a baseline, it would take until approximately April 2025 to zero out that deficit.

BetMGM’s performance for June relating to gross revenue was solid. It finished with a hold of 8.9% — 1.9 percentage points higher than June 2023 — in claiming $3.6 million.

FanDuel had a year-best 15.3% hold in collecting $14.8 million in gross revenue from $96.2 million in handle. It was the first time since last August that FanDuel failed to reach $100 million in accepted wagers, while the digital juggernaut’s win rate was its highest since a 17.6% mark attained in May 2023.

Its eternal rival DraftKings posted back-to-back double-digit holds for the first time in Michigan, edging over 10% after reaping $8.3 million from $82.8 million in wagers. DraftKings also cleared $4 billion in all-time handle as its year-over-year win rate more than tripled from the 3.2% reported in June 2023.

ESPN BET had its third consecutive month with a win rate of at least 8.5% in posting $1.4 million in revenue from $16.2 million worth of bets.

Fanatics Sportsbook, though, has attained back-to-back 10%-plus holds for the first time since entering Michigan in February. It had a 10.3% win rate that resulted in $1.3 million in gross winnings from nearly $13 million worth of wagers.

BetRivers finished with a negative AGR for the third consecutive month at -$63,505, raising its deficit in that span to $187,400. It grossed $386,100 from $8.8 million in handle, and the 4.4% hold was its third straight below 5%.

Overall, mobile operators had an 11.2% hold in claiming $30.9 million in gross revenue from $276.8 million in handle. It is the ninth time in the past 22 months wagering via sports betting apps resulted in a 10% hold or higher for operators.