DETROIT – Back in December, Michiganders were able to legally buy marijuana. Now, it’s time to place your bets.
Michigan casinos can now legally accept wagers on sports events.
Local sports fans lined up at MGM Grand Casino on Wednesday, waiting to be one of the first ones to place their gaming bets legally in Detroit.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” Mike Silicilia said.
Silicilia supports his Detroit Tigers and Michigan Wolverines, but now he’s ready to put his money where his mouth is, just in time for March Madness.
“Perfect time, perfect time to start, Big 10 Tournament getting ready to go. Go Blue tomorrow,” he said.
Warren Stanfield has his money on another team: George Mason.
MGM leaders and some Detroit legacies, like boxing legend Tommy “The Hit Man" Hearns officially announced Michigan casinos can now legally accept bets on sporting events.
“We have a couple of different options for people to bet on. Obviously you can go to one of our live windows, where you can place a bet with an actual cashier. You can place a straight bet, a future bet,” said MGM President David Tsai.
Louis Theros, with MGM said, sports betting is a huge deal and multi-million dollar industry and the good news, is some of that money will benefit the local economy.
“So, from the betting and casinos, 55 percent of the tax revenue goes to the city of Detroit, 45 percent goes to the state of Michigan, and with the state of Michigan they allocated those to school aid funds, infrastructure,” Theros said.
“I heard a lot of people talking about betting. I think the sports bets and the casinos are going to be very happy people,” Sicilia said.