Henry Williams, executive director of the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), believes the Board’s use of cease-and-desist letters against illegal operators has turned a little-used tool into national model for protecting players.
When Williams ordered offshore sportsbook Bovada out of the state in May 2024, many in the industry took notice. Bovada left Michigan and other states soon followed the state’s lead in what has been described as the most aggressive state-level campaign against illegal gambling in the country.
Michigan’s record goes back further. In 2023, the MGCB was an early actor against sweepstakes casinos, operators that, as MGCB Chief of Staff Kurt Steinkamp told the Washington Post, ignored consumer protections and Michigan’s 21-and-over age limit.
Since then, the agency has steadily widened its reach across offshore casinos and sportsbooks, sweepstakes sites, and unlicensed prediction markets.
“Illegal gambling operators target Michigan residents, while offering none of the protections our laws require,” Williams said in a statement. “These results belong to our entire team: the investigators, analysts, and staff who work these cases every day, along with our partners at the Michigan Department of Attorney General.”
Williams stressed that their work is why “Michigan has become a model for other states, and we will keep at it until illegal operators understand that Michigan is off-limits.”
Since the MGCB began issuing cease-and-desist letters in mid-2024, 259 illegal online gambling sites have received letters. Of those, 166 have complied, a 64.1% compliance rate. That rate is up from the roughly 50% the agency reported at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in October 2025.
Key milestones along the way for the MGCB:
- May 2024: first offshore order, to Bovada, which left Michigan within 14 days
- April 2026: a 45-operator sweep, the largest four-month action in the program’s history
- October 2026: more than 30 offshore operators ordered out of the state
The results show up in player behavior. GeoComply data covering March 2023 to March 2025 recorded a sharp drop in Michigan searches for, and traffic to, offshore brands that had received MGCB letters.
Those gains show up in the market as a whole. A March 2026 study by igaming analytics firm Blask ranked Michigan first among fully regulated states for channelization, the share of gambling activity that goes to legal licensed operators.
About 75% of Michigan consumers’ activity goes through legal operators, well above the roughly 62% average for the fully regulated states studied. Two things put Michigan at the top: The state legalized a broad range of gaming, giving residents safe and accessible legal options, and the MGCB has aggressively cracked down on the illegal operators competing with them.
Working with the state attorney general, the MGCB has also taken on unlicensed sports prediction markets. In June 2026, a temporary restraining order barred KalshiEX from offering sports contracts in Michigan, and Robinhood (September), Coinbase (October), and Polymarket (October) have each agreed to stop offering sports wagering contracts to Michigan customers.
“Illegal operators take money from Michigan residents without offering any of the protections that come with a license: no age checks, no responsible-gaming tools, and no one to turn to when something goes wrong,” said MGCB Chief of Staff Kurt Steinkamp. “Every operator we push out of Michigan is one less risk to our residents and one less dollar drained from the schools and communities that legal gaming supports.”
