Some big names were part of Michigan’s online sports betting and iGaming launch Friday at noon, as lawmaker Sen. Curtis Hertel made a ceremonial first bet at noon on the DraftKings Sportsbook on Michigan State basketball, while at Rush Street Interactive’s BetRivers app, longtime Detroit Pistons announcer John Mason wagered on Tampa Bay +3.5 (-110) against the Packers in this Sunday’s NFC Championship game. According to BetRivers, Mason made the bet because Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady is a Michigan alum.
Hertel, along with Brandt Iden, his former Michigan House counterpart, were the architects of the law that allowed for today’s launch.
“Michigan now can offer legal, regulated online gaming and sports betting to residents and visitors,” said Richard S. Kalm, MGCB executive director, via a Michigan Gaming Control Board press release. “It’s an exciting and much-anticipated day and will bring revenue to support education, tribal communities and the city of Detroit.”
Platforms tethered to all three Detroit commercial casinos were among the 10 that went live, as well as seven platforms linked to tribal casinos throughout Michigan.
Most operators were offering glitzy specials seen in other states, large deposit matches and “risk-free bets” up to $1,000. Barstool Sports will match every dollar in initial deposits with a donation to its Barstool Fund, while FanDuel is also offering a big Pistons odds boost: Pistons to score 10 points in Q1 +100 (boosted from -100000). The max bet is $50.
Prior to the official launches, Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel in a statement Thursday urged prospective customers to carefully review the fine print on sportsbook and iGaming promos, to set expectations and avoid any misunderstandings. Good advice that users in any state would do well to heed.
The following platforms were approved to go live Friday afternoon, with their brick-and-mortar casino partner in parentheses.
Since Michigan lawmakers legalized sports betting in December 2019, there has been plenty of anticipation among both lawmakers and bettors. Former lawmaker Iden, who is now with risk-management and odds supplier Sportradar, was insistent not only that sports betting and iGaming be legalized in a single shot, but he was also able to bring Michigan’s tribes to the table and craft the first law in the U.S. under which the tribes are taxed and regulated by a state.
But Iden and Hertel needed two tries at legalizing sports betting and iGaming.
“The second crack at the legislation made the legislation better,” Iden said during an iGB webinar on Thursday. “Speaking as a guy who got a bill vetoed … I learned my lesson the hard way. The first time, I went to my colleagues first, and then took it to the governor, and he said, ‘You didn’t talk to me’ … so I had to go back to the beginning.”
Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed Iden’s 2018 bill before his successor, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, signed the new legislation in December 2019.
“There’s a lot of excitement about Michigan out there,” Iden said. “But what’s really cool out there, is we sort of have this culmination of the tribes, the commercial casinos, a launch date. … We’re very excited about this.”
Said BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt in a press release Friday morning: “Reaction to the opening of MGM Grand Detroit’s BetMGM Sportsbook and Lounge has been incredible. We’re thrilled to complement our retail offering with the launch of the BetMGM mobile app in Michigan.”
Interest was so high that BetMGM’s crashed in the early going, according to one Twitter user.
According to an MGM spokesperson, the app was back up and running within a few hours, “The BetMGM Michigan app experienced high traffic at launch, resulting in some tech issues,” he said. “The issues have now been resolved.”
https://sportshandle.com/online-sports-betting-igaming-launch-michigan/