{"id":95216,"date":"2018-12-21T08:20:25","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T16:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=95216"},"modified":"2018-12-21T08:20:25","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T16:20:25","slug":"michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Online Gambling Bill Unexpectedly Passed in Final Minutes of Lame Duck Session"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the early hours of Friday morning, Michigan lawmakers legalized online gambling — a move that largely blindsided industry observers.<\/p>\n

\"Michigan
Rep. Brandt Iden\u2019s online gaming bill finally passed in the early hours of the morning. It now moves to Governor Rick Snyder\u2019s desk. With Snyder\u2019s signature, Michigan will become the fifth state to legalize online gaming. (Image: WMUK)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the clock ticked towards the end of the final day of the lame duck session, an online gambling bill<\/a> which has been rattling around the legislature for several years in one form or another<\/a> suddenly and unexpectedly picked up steam.<\/p>\n

The bill — introduced by Representative Brandt Iden (R-61st) in September — was first passed by the House in June but rejected by the Senate. The Senate\u2019s amended version of that bill reappeared at the eleventh hour, where it was approved by a margin of\u00a033-5 on the floor and batted back towards the House.<\/p>\n

At 3:30am, the House passed the Senate\u2019s version by 71-35.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in the Michigan Online Gambling Bill?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Provided the bill gets sign-off from Michigan Governor Rick Snyder — and it is expected that it will — it will legalize online poker and casino gaming, but not sports betting — although\u00a0it does appear to pave the way for regulators to do so in the future.<\/p>\n

\n

The bill would create a separate regulator for online gambling — the Division of Internet Gaming — and states: \u201cThe division may permit internet gaming operators licensed by the division to accept internet wagers under this act on any amateur or professional sporting event or contest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Online poker and casino would be taxed at an industry-friendly eight percent — significantly less than the 19 percent paid by Michigan\u2019s casinos on its land-based gaming operations.<\/p>\n

Those casinos — such as Motor City, MGM Grand or Greektown — will be able to apply for online gaming licenses for an application fee of $100,000, a licensing fee of $200,000, and $50,000 per year thereafter.<\/p>\n

Tribal operators will be required to renegotiate their state compacts with the governor if they wish to offer online gambling.<\/p>\n

DOJ Opinion on Its Way?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Michigan may have just got there in the nick of time, as rumors swirl that the Department of Justice is about issue an opinion on the Wire Act — possibly today (Friday) — which could render state-sanctioned online gaming illegal.<\/p>\n

It is unclear what this might mean for states that have already legalized online gaming — New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware in 2013, Pennsylvania last year, and now Michigan — or for those who are planning to do so in the future.<\/p>\n

It is also possible that the rumored opinion may never materialize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the early hours of Friday morning, Michigan lawmakers legalized online gambling — a move that largely blindsided industry observers. As the clock ticked towards the end of the final day of the lame duck session, an online gambling bill which has been rattling around the legislature for several years in one form or another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":95217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,19,18,13592,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMichigan Online Gambling Bill Unexpectedly Passed Early Friday<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michigan unexpectedly voted to legalize online gambling, while also paving the way for the legalization and regulation of sports betting.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michigan Online Gambling Bill Unexpectedly Passed Early Friday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michigan unexpectedly voted to legalize online gambling, while also paving the way for the legalization and regulation of sports betting.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-21T16:20:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/iden.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday\/\",\"name\":\"Michigan Online Gambling Bill Unexpectedly Passed Early Friday\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/iden.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-21T16:20:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-21T16:20:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Michigan unexpectedly voted to legalize online gambling, while also paving the way for the legalization and regulation of sports betting.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-online-gambling-bill-unexpectedly-passed-early-friday\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/iden.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/iden.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1600,\"caption\":\"Rep. 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