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US – Michigan Gaming Control Board warns that online betting is still a year away

Despite Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signing laws allowing online betting last month, the Michigan Gaming Control Board has confirmed it won’t be launched until 2021.

Retail sports betting is expected to kick off in spring but the Michigan Gaming Control Board believes it will take another year to piece together legislation so three commercial casinos in Detroit and 24 tribal casinos can launch online and mobile sports betting.

Mary Kay Bean, spokeswoman for the Michigan Gaming Control Board, said: “We are at a very early stage of this process. Our goal is to authorise onsite sports betting at the Detroit casinos this spring. Timing will depend on how quickly we receive applications, can approve the casinos’ internal controls and are able to issue required licenses. We’re estimating it will take about a year to complete the rule-making process for mobile sports wagering and internet casino gambling. This estimate is based on a review of the timelines for other rule sets and for rules we’ve developed in the past. The agency must establish several sets of administrative rules, which pass through many levels of review. The timing of implementation depends not only on our agency but also on decisions other departments, agencies and the Legislature make along the way. Timing will depend on how quickly we receive applications, can approve the casinos’ internal controls and are able to issue required licenses.”

“Emergency rules are used on the rare occasions when a department or agency finds a threat to health, safety and welfare, and the governor must concur,” she added. “The MCGB is following the regular rule process, which provides opportunities for stakeholder and public input, a public hearing and submission of a regulatory impact statement. For the new laws, we have to establish several sets of rules and those rules need to pass through many levels of review. The act doesn’t define commercially reasonable rates for league data so the MGCB has a duty to define it. We want to create a definition that accomplishes the legislature’s intent and works for the people and entities we will regulate under this law. The MGCB will seek input from stakeholders as we develop the definition, which will undergo public review as part of the rulemaking process. The legislature also will review the definition as part of its examination of the rules we develop.”