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News · Detroit

Michigan online casinos and sportsbooks took in $355.7 million in September, and Detroit’s cut of the taxes was $14 million

The Mitten Daily · October 22, 2026 · Detroit

The silver MGM Grand tower in Detroit with its vertical name sign against a clear blue sky.
MGM Grand Detroit in 2012, in a file photo. Photo: meesh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), cropped and color-adjusted.

DETROIT — Michigan’s online casinos and sportsbooks reported $355.7 million in gross receipts in September, up 5.4% from August, the Michigan Gaming Control Board said Thursday, Oct. 22. Operators paid $62.4 million in taxes and fees to the state for the month, and the three Detroit casinos paid the city another $14 million from their online business.

Online casino games, known as iGaming, brought in $300.2 million of the gross total. Online sports betting brought in $55.5 million, the board said.

After promotional credits and other allowed deductions, adjusted gross receipts came to $313.04 million: $288.15 million from iGaming and $24.89 million from sports betting. Compared with September 2025, iGaming was up 18.4% and online sports betting was up 88.2%, according to the board.

Football drove the betting. Bettors wagered $544.8 million online with Michigan sportsbooks in September, a 64.9% jump from August, with college and pro football in full swing. Sportsbooks kept about 10 cents of every dollar wagered as gross receipts, by The Mitten Daily’s math.

Where the tax money goes. Of the $62.4 million paid to the state, $60.6 million came from iGaming and $1.8 million from sports betting. The Detroit casinos’ $14 million in city wagering taxes and municipal services fees included $13.5 million from iGaming and $548,519 from sports betting. Tribal operators reported $8.3 million in payments to their governing bodies.

Online now dwarfs the casino floors. Earlier this month, the board reported that Detroit’s three casinos took in $103.55 million in September from table games, slots and in-person sports betting. The $313 million in online adjusted receipts is about three times that figure. MGM Grand Detroit led the casinos at $48.84 million, up 6.5% from a year earlier, followed by MotorCity at $32.6 million, up 12.7%, and Hollywood Casino at Greektown at $21.34 million, down 8.8%, the board said.

The tax picture tilts the same way. The casinos’ in-person play produced $8.3 million in state gaming taxes and $12.7 million in wagering taxes and development payments to Detroit in September. The online side paid the state more than seven times as much, and its $14 million to the city topped what the casino floors sent.

Fifteen commercial and tribal operators are licensed to offer iGaming or online sports betting in Michigan. All 15 offer online casino games and 13 take sports bets.

What this means for you. For taxpayers, online gambling is now a steady line in the state and Detroit budgets, at roughly $62 million a month for Lansing and $14 million for the city in September. For players, the board points to free help: call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit 800gambler.org around the clock, and Michigan residents can sign up for the state’s self-exclusion lists or claim a free license for Gamban blocking software through Michigan.gov/MGCB. Gambling should be for entertainment only, the board said.

Sources:
Michigan Gaming Control Board, “Michigan iGaming, Online Sports Betting Operators Report $355.7M in September revenue,” Oct. 22, 2026 (gross and adjusted receipts, handle, state, Detroit and tribal payments, operators, help resources), https://www.michigan.gov/mgcb/news/2026/10/22/september-2026-igaming-revenue
Michigan Gaming Control Board, “Detroit casinos report $103.55M in September revenue,” Oct. 13, 2026 (casino totals by property, year-over-year changes, state and city payments), https://www.michigan.gov/mgcb/news/2026/10/13/september-2026-casino-revenue
The hold rate and the online-versus-casino comparisons are The Mitten Daily’s calculations from the board’s figures.
Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MGM_Grand_Detroit_(6852323170).jpg

Detroit

Tags: Detroit · Online Gambling · Sports Betting · Casinos · State Taxes · MGCB

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