Michigan Governor Legalizes Online Gambling and Sports Betting
Published December 27, 2019 by Elana K
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Lawful Sports Betting Act on Friday, which is a package of gaming bills that includes online sports betting, online casinos, poker, and daily fantasy sports.
Michigan has become the twentieth state to legalize sports betting in the United States. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Lawful Sports Betting Act on Friday, which is a package of gaming bills that includes online sports betting, online casinos, poker, and daily fantasy sports.
Current Betting Laws
Michigan currently allows retail sports betting, and the state Gaming Control Board has encouraged commercial casinos to push for making sports betting a Class III activity. But since there is a 22% tax on Class III games, casinos did not push forward. Instead, they waited to see if the governor would sign a new bill. And finally, she has.
What’s in the Bill?
The Lawful Sports Betting Act includes an 8.4% tax on adjusted gross sports betting receipts, with an additional small city tax paid to Detroit. That is definitely better than the previous deal that commercial casinos would have gotten. The bill also makes Michigan’s 23 tribal casinos and 3 commercial casinos eligible to register for a sports betting license. The application fee is $50K and a license fee is $100K. For daily fantasy sports, the license fee is only $20,000 and there will be a $5K annual fee.
Why the Approval?
Governor Whitmer said that she signed the bill so that the state’s School Aid Fund could receive funds from sports betting and online casino tax revenue. She said that “our students deserve leaders who put their education first,” and expanding Michigan’s gambling laws definitely has the potential to help support education. Estimates project that Michigan's new gambling bill can generate nearly $20 million in revenue, with an estimated $5 million going to the School Aid Fund.
