William Hill Sportsbook at Michigan Casino Gets Underway

After stating it would be open in time for the NFL debut, the sportsbook at the Onyx Sports Bar and Grill by William Hill in Traverse City, Michigan, finally opened today after missing its originally planned start date.

On Thursday, the Onyx Sportsbook tweeted that it was officially opening at 3 p.m. Friday at Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel in Traverse City. The new Michigan casino sportsbook will also have a satellite location at the Leelanau Sands Casino and Lodge.

Bettors can place wagers inside the Onyx Sportsbook at the wagering windows or at self-serve kiosks. Additional self-serve kiosks are available throughout the casino and at Leelanau Sands Casino.

The official opening of the Onyx Sportsbook has been a longtime coming for bettors in the Traverse City area. The initial announcement from William Hill in February, and billboards off M-72 and social media posts dating back to Aug. 17, all pointed to the Onyx Sportsbook opening in time for the start of football season. But the NFL season opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texas on Sept. 10 came and went without the sportsbook operating.

“We are finalizing all internal approvals at this time and we hope to open sports betting soon at Turtle Creek and Leelanau Sands casinos,” Michael Schrader, CEO of Grand Traverse Resort and Casinos, said in a statement to the Traverse City Record Eagle on Sept. 9. “We appreciate everyone’s patience during this process.”

Turtle Creek was Michigan’s 23rd casino to gain a retail sports betting license once Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a package of gambling expansion bills into state law in December 2019.

The Onyx Sports Bar features 20 HDTVs, two betting windows and pool tables. The book functions similarly to William Hill’s other establishments, where a bettor checks off the rotation number on a sheet of paper and presents it to the writer inside the cage.

Active Sportsbooks In Michigan

With its official opening, the Onyx Sportsbook by William Hill became the seventh casino to offer sports betting across the state. The others are:

• BetMGM Sports Lounge at MGM Grand Detroit
• Dacey’s Sportsbook at FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek
• FanDuel Sports at MotorCity Casino in Detroit
• Four Winds Sportsbooks in Dowagiac, Hartford and New Buffalo
• Greektown Casino-Hotel sportsbook in Detroit
• River Rock Sportsbook and Grill at Little River Casino in Manistee
• Island Resort and Casino in Harris

Michigan online sports betting, real money casinos and poker could also be arriving by November.

Michigan Sportsbooks Opening In The Future

There are numerous Michigan casinos who have partnered with sportsbooks, but official opening dates have yet to be revealed:

• Bay Mills Casino in Brimley will launch a DraftKings Sportsbook
• Gun Lake Casino in Wayland is partnered with Parx Casino for sportsbook operations
• Kewadin Casinos, partnered with GAN, will open a sportsbook at five UP locations, including: Christmas, Hessel, Manistique, Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace
• PointsBet will offer a sportsbook at Northern Waters Casino Resort in Watersmeet
• Ojibwa Casino has locations in Baraga and Marquette and is partnered with Golden Nugget
• In Mount Pleasant, Soaring Eagle is planning a sportsbook, as is Saganing Eagles Landing in Standish.