French betting revenues soar on back of World Cup boost
Regulator reveals more than 100m staked on World Cup alone but poker suffers its worst week since market opened
The regulated French sports betting market saw a 64% increase in gross gaming revenue to 59m during Q2 as the World Cup boosted revenues for operators, however the nation’s online poker market continued to deteriorate.
Figures released by the country’s regulator ARJEL revealed that sportsbooks accepted bets totalling 286m in the three months ended 30 June 2014.
The period included the tournament’s group phase, with 62m staked on this stage alone, and in total 109m was staked during the tournament, generating 31.2m in GGR.
Interest in football’s Champions League and Europa League tournaments, participated in by French teams Paris Saint Germain and Lyon, also contributed towards a total increase in football betting stakes of 76% year-on-year.
However, France’s poker market fared considerably poorer during the period and ARJEL revealed the week commencing 29 June to have been the worst in terms of poker stakes since the market opened in 2010, with just 71m staked across France.
Cash game stakes fell 17% year-on-year to 1.04bn during the quarter but while tournament stakes rose by 6% to 363m this was not enough to prevent GGR falling 9% to 57.5m.
Earlier this year new ARJEL president Charles Coppolani said that he considered poker to be a “fad” that had reached its limit in France.