According to WILX, the Legislature and Governor Gretchen Whitmer are closing in on an agreement to legalize sports betting and internet gambling in Michigan, with final votes possible this week.

The development would be a landmark in a state with many gambling options already. Those include three commercial casinos in Detroit, 24 tribal casinos across western and northern Michigan, and the Lottery, which also has an online component.

The abundance of competition is a complicating factor, primarily due to concerns that letting casinos offer online gambling would hurt rapidly growing revenues from the state's Lottery.

The Whitmer administration has worried about the substitution effect, that people who play the Lottery online will move to playing poker and other internet games offered by the casinos.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 paved the way for all 50 states to allow sports gambling. It is underway in 13 states and has been authorized in six more, according to the American Gaming Association.

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