DraftKings Strikes Deal to Enter Michigan Sports Betting Market

After a long wait, DraftKings has struck a deal to enter the Michigan sports betting market.

After previously landing in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, DraftKings has agreed to partner with Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

“Through a commitment to provide customers with a premier sports betting experience, DraftKings is happy to partner with Bay Mills Resort & Casino,” DraftKings Chief Business Officer Ezra Kucharz said in a release. “The Great Lakes State presents a number of gaming opportunities and we look forward to collaborating with Bay Mills to provide residents with the best-in-class experience DraftKings is known for.”

The partnership allows for both in-person and online sports betting once it becomes legal, which could happen by the end of 2020 or early 2021.

In a DraftKings-led study of Michigan residents who held an interest in online sports betting, it found more than a third have already placed an online bet by traveling to another state or country.

The DraftKings mobile app is currently available in seven states, while six states boast a DraftKings retail sportsbook.

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DraftKings is set to offer an online betting product as soon as online betting launches in Michigan.

The Michigan Gaming and Control Board started accepting online gaming supplier licensing forms last month in an effort to jump-start the online betting campaign.

Until then, it will work in the retail sportsbook game.

DraftKings will join the likes of FanDuel, BetMGM, FOX Bet, PointsBet, and William Hill once it enters the Michigan market.

In sports betting's week-long stint in Michigan before the coronavirus closed casinos, commercial casinos brought in $105,548.

The emergence of DraftKings should be a positive for the state as casinos begin to reopen and live sports start to return.