Michigan iGaming Hits $2.9B in 2025, Ten Times the 2019 Forecast

Michigan’s online casino market generated $2.9 billion in adjusted gross receipts in 2025, nearly 10 times the $300 million state fiscal analysts projected when the legislature legalized iGaming in 2019, according to Michigan Gaming Control Board data. State tax revenue from iGaming reached $597.5 million last year, against a 2019 projection of $31.3 million. Michigan ranked second nationally in 2025 by iGaming revenue, behind Pennsylvania at $3.46 billion.

A Revenue Curve That Has Not Flattened

Michigan launched iGaming on January 22, 2021. Adjusted gross receipts grew each year without exception: $1 billion in 2021, $1.4 billion in 2022, $1.7 billion in 2023, $2.2 billion in 2024, and $2.9 billion in 2025. March 2026 set a new monthly gross receipts record at $322.1 million, above the $315.8 million recorded three months earlier.

Nationally, iGaming revenue across the seven states with legal online casinos grew 27.6% in 2025 to $10.73 billion. Pennsylvania led at $3.46 billion. In both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, iGaming revenue exceeded land-based casino revenue for the first time in 2025.

The gap between online casino and sports betting tax revenue in Michigan is the number most relevant to states that currently consider iGaming legislation. iGaming produced $597.5 million in state tax revenue in 2025. Online sports betting produced $27.1 million. The ratio is approximately 22 to 1.

Detroit Casinos Have Not Been Displaced

Revenue at Michigan’s three Detroit brick-and-mortar casinos held steady at roughly $1.2 billion annually from 2021 through 2025, even as iGaming tax revenue nearly tripled over the same period. The online market did not shift spending away from physical floors; it expanded the total pool.

Brandt Iden, the Republican who led the 2019 legalization effort and now serves as vice president of government affairs at Fanatics Betting and Gaming, said he “always knew that the market growth would be significantly larger than the legislative fiscal forecasts put forth by the state.” He and others in the industry attributed the rapid uptake partly to activity that had previously moved through unlicensed channels.

Not every legislator shares that view. State Sen. Thomas Albert, who voted against legalization in 2019, called the revenue figures “customer losses and fees” and argued the money comes at a cost to household finances. State Sen. Ed McBroom, also a 2019 opponent, said he does not “support legislation that increases vices.”

Self-Exclusion Registry Has Grown 21-Fold

The MGCB’s own monthly reports document a parallel trend. Michigan’s Responsible Gaming Database, created alongside the iGaming launch, recorded 78 self-exclusion participants at the end of 2021. By the end of 2025, that number stood at 1,644, a 21-fold increase. The sports betting equivalent listed 1,550 individuals as of late 2025.

For comparison, the Disassociated Persons List that covers in-person gambling at Detroit’s casinos has accumulated 4,252 entries since 2001. On a time-adjusted basis, the online product adds self-exclusion entries at roughly four times the rate of in-person gambling.

In March 2026, the Center for Addiction Science, Policy, and Research ranked Michigan 49th out of 52 states and territories for online gambling protections and awarded the state an F grade. Two bills introduced by state Sen. Erika Geiss would restrict gambling advertising and ban targeted marketing to individuals under 21. The Citizens Research Council of Michigan published a separate report in March 2026 with recommendations for caps on prop bets, a prohibition on credit card deposits, and limits on AI-driven bet recommendations.

Marlene Warner, interim executive director of the Michigan Association on Problem Gambling, said the state is “feeling things out in the dark” due to insufficient data on who gambles, on what, and at what risk level. The state has commissioned a gambling prevalence study through Wayne State University, the first of its kind since 2013.

TGJ Take

Michigan is the strongest data point iGaming expansion advocates have, and the numbers hold up. A 10x revenue miss and zero cannibalization of Detroit’s land-based casinos answer the two arguments states have used to stall legalization for years. Any operator or government affairs team that uses Michigan as a case study in statehouses should, however, read the self-exclusion trajectory alongside the revenue charts: a Responsible Gaming Database that grew 21-fold in five years, while the state holds an F grade in addiction protections, is a political liability that will surface in any serious legislative debate. The 22:1 tax ratio between iGaming and sports betting is also the most underused number in the US expansion conversation. States that passed sports-betting-only legislation left the majority of the fiscal argument on the table, and Michigan now proves it with five years of unbroken data.