French online gambling market posts 4m loss
Strong growth in sports betting revenues failed to prevent the vertical recording a 7m loss as horseracing and poker also struggle
The French online gambling market recorded a 4m loss during 2015 despite continued high revenue growth in the sports betting vertical, according to the regulator’s full-year report.
L’Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) this week announced French-licensed operators had collectively recorded the loss which marks a significant decrease from the 5m profit posted when the market first opened in 2010.
Sports betting and online poker both recorded a 7m deficit for the 12 months ended 31 December 2016, while the horseracing betting vertical achieved a 10m surplus.
The loss posted from the betting vertical comes despite French online sportsbooks recording a 19% year-on-year growth in 2015 gross gaming revenue (GGR) – only five of the 11 licensed operators managing to obtain a surplus.
Revenues from online poker, meanwhile, decreased 4% year-on-year to 232m, with cash game stakes falling 14% to 3.7bn and tournament stakes increasing 14% to 1.8bn.
The 10m surplus in horseracing betting was still 30% lower compared to 2014, impacted by declines in both revenues and stakes.
“The last 12 months have been very intense in all respects of the Authority’s regulation of online gaming,” Charles Coppolani, president of ARJEL, said.
“Recent months have been so rich, dense and promising, it just remains to consolidate and complete. It seems we are on the right path.”
A number of operators withdrew from the French online gambling market last year including online poker firm PKR, while Betclic also closed its Everest Poker brand and ARJEL revoked NetBet’s poker licence.
At the end of H1 2016, the market had 16 companies holding 29 licence approvals for poker, horseracing betting and sports betting, compared to 48 approvals in 2010 when the market was opened to foreign operators.
This week’s full-year report also revealed preliminary numbers for six months ended 30 June 2016, which showed the Euro 2016 tournament recorded 31.5m in GGR and led to a 49% year-on-year increase in active sports betting players.
However, stakes in horseracing were found to be down 10% year-on-year to 466m.