Sports betting drives 6% rise in French revenues
GGR from sports betting soars 38% year-on-year, offsetting poker decline, as overall regulated market rises from 686m to 725m
A double-digit increase in online sports betting revenue offset poker and horse racing decline to help the regulated French online gambling market record a 6% year-on-year rise in gross gaming revenue (GGR) last year, according to the latest figures released by the regulator.
GGR from regulated French online sportsbook operators soared 38% to 227m during a 12-month period where the overall market posted a modest 6% rise in revenue to 725m.
Figures released last week by the country’s regulator l’Autorité de regulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) showed that sportsbooks accepted bets totalling 1.1bn in the year ended 31 December 2014, which it said was largely driven by the FIFA World Cup.
“This phenomenon has been accentuated by the progress of the football World Cup, which brought together more than 109m of bets between 12 June and 13 July 2014, almost 10% of stakes recorded in 2014,” the regulator said in a statement.
However, France’s online poker woes continued last year after the vertical recorded a 7% year-on-year decline in GGR, falling from 258m to 241m. Cash game stakes fell 14% year-on-year to 4.4bn during 2014 but tournament stakes rose by 6% to 1.5bn.
Revenue from horse race betting also declined slightly last year, falling 3% year-on-year from 264m to 257m.
Last September eGaming Review revealed ARJEL was preparing to streamline its relicensing procedures this year to make the process less burdensome for the first wave of operators whose licences are due to expire in the summer.