Michigan has emerged as the latest state to introduce regulated sports wagering thanks to the sign off last week of Bill 4926. The bill, which makes provisions for terrestrial and online sports betting, will be presented to the state Governor Rick Snyder who has the final say as to whether or not it makes it onto the statute book.
If passed, citizens of Michigan aged 21 years and over will be able to register with one of the state’s three Detroit casinos as well as 23 tribal gaming venues and place wagers online. Tax has been set at eight per cent, 30 per cent of which will go to the city of Detroit, five per cent to state school aid and transportation, five per cent to horse racing and the remainder to the Michigan Internet Gaming Fund.
Revenues generated from the tribal casinos, will be split differently, with 25 per cent going to the Michigan Strategic Fund and 75 per cent to the state’s gaming fund. At least $1m per annum has been earmarked to pay for research, education and treatment of problem gambling.
Among the first commercial interests to respond to the news was internet gambling software solutions provider GAN which said it was strongly positioned to serve Michigan’s casino operators. Company CEO Dermot Smurfit stated: “GAN is one of only two fully licensed B2B-only platform vendors in New Jersey, the largest casino in Pennsylvania as a client and one of the very few B2B-only technology vendors with the requisite technical expertise and ‘day one’ New Jersey experience to credibly serve Michigan’s land-based casinos.”
