Michigan is one of the 20 states that have already signed betting into law since the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled out the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act or PASPA of 1992 in May 2018.

States like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Montana, and Rhode Island all have signed betting into law in the same year that the Supreme Court made its decision regarding PASPA. These states are now offering sports betting to the locals.

Meanwhile, states like Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, and Tennessee are also states that have already signed betting into law but are still working on having it launched. The same goes for the state in Michigan, but the locals will no longer have to wait for a long time.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board or MGCB hasn’t released an exact date just yet as to when the launch of local betting is within the state. However, the locals should only expect that only in-person betting will be launched soon. The MGCB’s spokesperson, Mary Kay Bean said that the department is already working to launch in-person betting before March Madness even begins on March 17.

This is just a few days away and so local punters are already looking forward to this. However, what’s for sure is that the locals are also waiting for online betting to come to the state of Michigan. Bean has said a few weeks ago that online betting may not even be available this year in the state, however.

The spokesperson explained that signing betting, both online and in-person, in the state is just really the first step. In-person is likely to go first because it’s easier to give licenses to existing casinos in the state. Online betting, on the other hand, requires some more work when it comes to how it will be regulated in the state.

For now, the locals will still really have to wait for the official launch of the in-person betting in the state. If they still prefer to do this online, there are two main options for the locals to do this. They can travel to neighboring states with legal online betting like the state of Indiana or simply stay at home and place online wagers on offshore-based casinos or bookies.

The latter still sounds ideal as it’s most convenient. What the punters should just really keep in mind, however, is that they should only place bets on reputable online casinos and bookies based outside the country. SilentBet and Kasinohai are great sites to check the reviews of different online bookies and casinos. Part of the betting legislation is also allowing Fantasy Sports Betting in the state.

Once betting is launched in the state of Michigan, it will and should only happen in licensed casino premises. The independently regulated tribal casinos in the state are already permitted to open retail sports betting operations.

These casinos are still subject to the state’s law in terms of online betting, but while waiting for things to be finalized for its regulations, some tribal casinos have already secured partnerships with different betting providers.

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa has recently announced its partnership with William Hill. The same provider will also be opening sportsbooks in two of their Northern Michigan casinos in time for the 2020 football season.

The MGCB’s executive director recently said in an interview that the board is already at around 30 percent when it comes to setting the rules for betting, including online wagering. He said that it is likely that online betting will be up by early next year. He also explained that the board is creating rules for a completely new system that both tribal and commercial casinos should adhere to. It’s a very complex process that really requires time.

The legislation of sports betting in the state will impose an 8.4 percent tax on betting revenues of the local operators. However, taxes for online betting will be different. It’s likely that the tax percentage for online betting will be somewhere between 20 and 28 percent. This will depend on how much a bookie generates from online gambling.

The revenue that will be made from sports betting in the state will mainly head towards the School Aid Funds. Around 4 million US dollars of the annual betting revenue will go to a fund for firefighters who are diagnosed with cancer due to exposure to smoke and chemicals because of their jobs.