It’s been a year in the making, but we can expect to see the first online sports betting platform ready to go by the end of this month or early next month in Michigan.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board has already approved provisional licenses for 15 platform providers who intend offering sports betting from with their commercial or tribal casinos partners.
All these providers still have to meet certain regulatory requirements before their platforms can go live, but industry watchers believe that the process will be shorter than anticipated.
A year ago, in December 2019, Governor Gretchen Whitmer gave the green light for online gambling, including mobile sports betting. In March this year, the first casinos started offering in-house betting options. However, the framework for online gambling took more time to set up due to the complexities of the issue. The gambling authority needed to examine things such as rules, standards, regulations, penalities and licensing across the entire process.
Vendors first submitted their applications for licenses in May, and in October, the regulator submitted draft administrative rules. Lawmakers have since waived the need to wait the traditionally required-by-law 15 session days in order to allow the industry to launch as soon as possible.
Last week, the Michigan Gaming Control Board announced that it had issued 15 provisional licenses for online gaming and sports betting to:
- William Hill Sports Book
- Fan Duel Sportsbook
- Roar Digital (BetMGM)
- Churchill Downs Interactive (TwinSpires)
- DraftKings
- GAN Nevada
- Golden Nugget Online Gaming
- NYX Digital Gaming
- Parx Interactive
- PointsBet Michigan
- Rush Street Interactive
- Sports Information Services
- TSG Interactive
- Wynn Sports
While no firm date has been set for an official launch just yet, stakeholders in the industry believe that it will be sooner rather than later.
