French poker revenue jumps 126% in Q2 2020 as sports betting halves

French poker revenue rocketed 126% year-on-year to €142m (£126m) during Q2 2020 amid a 68% increase in active players during the Covid-19 lockdown. Total French gross gambling revenue (GGR) declined 6% annually during the second quarter to €323m (£288m), alongside a 9% decrease in active player accounts, according to the latest numbers published by the ANJ. Regulator ANJ revealed that licensed operator GGR fell by 24% in the coronavirus lockdown period between 16 March and 10 May. Online horseracing revenue rose by 33% during the quarter to €88m (£78.5m), despite French racetracks being under quarantine until 11 May, to reach its highest level since the market opened in 2010. Sports betting revenue more than halved during Q2, dropping by 56% to €94m (£83.8m), causing an 87% drop in operator turnover due to the cancellation of events.

Overall French gambling revenue rose by 8% year-on-year during H1 to €758m (£676m). To mitigate the loss of revenue and provide extra support to the market during this period, former French regulator ARJEL added an additional seven sporting events to the list of available markets for French-licensed operators. These included Australian football and soccer, the Hungarian football cup, first division football leagues in South Korea and China, baseball in Korea and hockey in Belarus. Several international horseracing events were also added to the list of available markets for punters to bet on, to mitigate the loss of domestic horseracing during the period. These are the first figures published by the ANJ since it officially took charge of regulating the French market in June. The ANJ now has full regulatory oversight of the country’s 14 licensed online operators, 237 racecourses and 202 casinos.