Payments from Michigan’s gaming tribes have fallen significantly over the last few years. Tribes paid $52.8 million in 2022 and only $15.4 million in 2025, a 71% decrease.
The drop is the result of tribes withholding revenue-share payments. According to Crain’s Detroit, tribes say the state’s gaming expansion over the last few years erodes the exclusivity the state guaranteed them. The state allows three commercial casinos in Detroit, but the rest of the state is reserved for tribal casinos.
Those funds support the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF), which helps fuel the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC). The MEDC promotes business growth and provides startup capital and growth funding for companies looking to move to the state or expand. The drop in MEDC funding has led to layoffs and more limited funds for projects, according to CEO Quentin Messer Jr.
Revenue Decline Expected To Continue
Submissions to the fund could take another hit this year. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians plans to stop payments from the tribe’s Four Winds casinos. That amounted to $11.7 million in 2025.
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, the tribe behind FireKeepers Casino, began withholding payments in February. The group sent $18.5 million to the state last year. The Gun Lake Tribe stopped payments in 2025, and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians ceased payments in 2023.
Under state gaming compacts, tribes share revenue from slots and other casino games. In turn, tribes argue that they were guaranteed a certain degree of gaming exclusivity.
They contend that the expansion of online gaming, mobile sports betting, horse racing, and online lottery has negatively impacted them.
The state legalized online gaming and poker in 2019 and saw the first regulated sites go live in 2021. Tribes in Michigan, and across the country, are also concerned about losing market share to prediction markets.
Numerous Tribes Partner With Online Operators
Despite those concerns, tribal groups play a role in online gaming in the state. Several have partnerships with major online gaming and sports betting operators.
For example, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians has an agreement in place with bet365. The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians are partnered with Caesars. BetMGM and FanDuel are the only two major online operators with non-tribal partnerships. BetMGM is partnered with MGM Detroit and FanDuel is partnered with MotorCity Casino.
As the Michigan gaming landscape has grown, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has been particularly active in attempting to block unlicensed operators in the state. In July, regulators ordered 45 offshore gambling sites, including poker platforms, to exit the state.
In 2024, the state sent cease-and-desist letters to VGW Holdings, the parent company of Global Poker and Chumba Casino, and two other operators. The MGCB has also demanded dozens of other operators cease operations in Michigan over the last few years.
