{"id":763304,"date":"2026-02-19T22:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T22:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763304\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T22:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T22:56:15","slug":"michigan-sports-betting-handle-plummets-in-january-amid-lions-less-nfl-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763304\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Sports Betting Handle Plummets in January Amid Lions-Less NFL Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An NFL postseason in Michigan without the Detroit Lions seems to have led to a significant decrease in January wagering.<\/p>\n

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Key Takeaways<\/p>\n

It was the lowest January handle since 2023.<\/p>\n

Revenue dipped a more significant 31% compared to the previous January.<\/p>\n

iGaming produced the second-highest gross revenue ever in Michigan.<\/p>\n

The Michigan Gaming Control Board reported<\/a> on Thursday a $502.6-million sports betting handle. The amount wagered in the first month of 2026 was down 12.6% from January 2025, when the Lions won the NFC North and entered the playoffs as a No. 1 seed with a 15-2 record in the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

Detroit went 9-8 during the 2025 campaign and finished fourth in the division, leading to less interest, the lowest January handle since 2023, and a 31% year-over-year decrease in Michigan sports betting revenue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Profit dip<\/p>\n

A year ago, the Lions played just one playoff game, a 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round, but the Michigan sports betting<\/a> operators racked up, reporting over $85.5 million in gross revenue.<\/p>\n

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Profits in the latest reported month, however, dipped to $58.8 million. Online sportsbooks made all but $789,000, which was won by retail operators on an $11.3-million handle. After adjustments, online sportsbooks hauled in $37 million, leading to a $2.5-million tax payout to the Wolverine State.<\/p>\n

While still an impressive win rate, January\u2019s 11.7% hold was the first under 12% since September 2025 and well below the 14.9% produced during the same month in 2025.<\/p>\n

FanDuel, Hard Rock Bet shine<\/p>\n

Online Operator<\/p>\n

January Handle<\/p>\n

Gross Revenue<\/p>\n

FanDuel<\/p>\n

$169.3 million<\/p>\n

$22.8 million <\/p>\n

DraftKings<\/p>\n

$144.8 million <\/p>\n

$16.2 million <\/p>\n

BetMGM<\/p>\n

$61.1 million <\/p>\n

$8.1 million<\/p>\n

Fanatics Sportsbook<\/p>\n

$44.4 million<\/p>\n

$4.4 million<\/p>\n

Hard Rock Bet<\/p>\n

$21.9 million<\/p>\n

$2.7 million<\/p>\n

theScore Bet<\/p>\n

$18.8 million<\/p>\n

$1.7 million<\/p>\n

FanDuel managed to turn in a 13.5% hold on a state-leading $169.3 million that produced $22.8 million in gross revenue, a 44% year-over-year decrease. <\/p>\n

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DraftKings was more in line with the January average, using a 11.2% win rate to gross $16.2 million from a $144.8-million handle. BetMGM produced a solid month with a 13.2% hold, while Fanatics hit right at 10% on a $44.4-million handle.<\/p>\n

Hard Rock Bet was the only other operator to accept at least $20 million in wagers and enjoyed a healthy 12.3% hold, while theScore Bet produced a 9% win rate. Caesars won back less than 6% of an $18.5-million handle. <\/p>\n

iGaming stays hot<\/p>\n

Michigan\u2019s online casinos recorded gross revenue of $298.3 million in January. That\u2019s a 20.2% year-over-year increase, but the first month of 2025 wasn\u2019t able to match December 2025\u2019s record $315.8-million mark.<\/p>\n

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January still produced the second-most iGaming revenue ever. FanDuel reported $73.3 million in monthly profits, while BetMGM was second with $65.8 million. The state collected over $54 million in tax revenue from online casino operators. Another $20.2 million went to city and local coffers in January.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Covers.com<\/a>, read the full article here<\/a> and view our best betting sites<\/a> or check out our top sportsbook promos<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. An…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":763305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[113,7,108836,957,108837,6,84,5433,111],"class_list":{"0":"post-763304","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-playoffs","8":"tag-detroit-lions","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-gross-revenue","11":"tag-michigan","12":"tag-michigan-gaming-control-board","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nfl-playoffs","15":"tag-sports-betting","16":"tag-washington-commanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116099769019377749","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}