Super Bowl fever: Michiganders set new record for online sports bets
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — It's the busiest weekend of the year for millions of gamblers testing their luck at casinos nationwide.
With Super Bowl Sunday right around the corner, online sports betting is growing in popularity.
According to "Play Michigan", combining retail and online sports betting, Michigan set a new record in December, recording over $613.4 million in bets. That was up 5% from November and up 24% from December 2022.
- Super Bowl Sunday:
Residents in Kalamazoo said it's more convenient to bet online.
“If I were to be sports betting on a big game, I'd rather be in front of my tv, with my roommates, my blanket, my slippers on," Charlie Stroup, Western Michigan University student said.
In Michigan, legal sportsbooks opened at casinos in 2020, with online sportsbooks arriving in 2021.
In the state there are currently 14 sportsbooks apps to choose from including BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel sportsbook.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said there can be deceptive internet gaming sites, along with scams.
Ways you can protect yourself, according to Nessel:
- Monitor your financial accounts and credit reports
- Update passwords
- Freeze your credit if your information was included in the breach
- Don’t trust your money with websites you don’t know
- Don’t gamble more than you can afford
“People’s need to watch their financials, they have to be very on top of what they bet and how they bet," Kalamazoo resident Robert Weiner said. "My bet is usually no more than $5, $10 bets."
Weiner placed a bet Friday on Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs getting a touchdown Super Bowl Sunday.
"It's nothing that is going to be life changing or anything but if it pays for a pizza next week that’s good," Weiner said.
- Could Taylor Swift be Super Bowl-bound?
“I was into online poker when that first came out and fantasy sports and things like that and now with the live sports betting, I don’t have to know everything about every single player, If I just want to say I think Travis Kelce will score a touchdown, then that’s a bet!" Weiner said.
To bet on sports in Michigan, you are required to be 21 years of age or older, and located in the state.
If gambling is a problem for you or someone in your life, you can get help by calling the : 1-800-270-7117.
