Sports betting is one step closer to fruition in Michigan. A proposal submitted by Representative, Brandt Iden, recently passed within the state house committee with hope that it will continue to move forward and be signed by Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, by the end of the year.

Bringing in Revenues:

On Tuesday, the sports betting bill introduced by Iden was passed out of committee. The bill would allow organized sports betting to take place online as well as at casinos in the state. Iden feels that the new industry would bring new and much-needed revenues to the state.

According to wilx.com…

Iden commented on the industry by stating: “Because this is already going on in the market place so we can protect those people who want to play and want to play legally, and we can, you know, make the state a little bit of money, which I think is also a positive.”

Past Failure:

The representative has been a strong supporter of gambling expansion for Michigan for quite some time. He proposed bills last session that would have legalized fantasy sports betting as well as online gambling via the three casinos in Detroit and tribal gaming venues.

However, those efforts failed as the bills were vetoed by former Governor, Rick Snyder. The previous governor was not in favor of expanding gambling and was worried that the state lottery would suffer from new competition.

For now, there is a new governor in place and Iden is hoping that his current legislation involving sports betting can be passed before the Super Bowl, which takes place in early February.