French Online Betting Hits Record High

Features

This week, French gambling regulator ARJEL released its latest results for the second quarter of 2017 ending June 30th, and after generating 16% more revenues in Q1 at €94 million, the sector has continued to soar, this time with revenue higher by 22% to €111 million compared to Q2 of 2016.

Furthermore, the revenue figure represents a new record for the sector, while turnover also hit a new all-time high of €636 million. The single digit 9% increase noted over the same period last year, however, was due to a tough Q2 of 2016 year-over-year comparison, as the UEFA Euro 2016 was taking place in France last year from June 10th to July 10th.

Encouragingly, the online sports betting market shows signs of equalizing gradually between the sexes, with ARJEL reporting a 5% increase in women placing wagers in Q2, while the number of male bettors dropped by 4% over the same period. This pattern has yet to be seen in the country’s other internet gambling segments, though.

There was further good news with France’s troubled online horserace betting market’s turnover rising by 9% to €239 million year-on-year, marking the market’s first growth in four years. Likewise, racing revenue also noted a 5% improvement in business to €58 million.

The positive news even extended to online poker, with revenue up by 5% to €58.6 million versus Q2 of 2016. From that tally, poker tournament stakes were 2% higher at €459 million, and revenue up by 12% to €36.6 million. Cash game stakes, on the other hand, were fairly flat, up by just 0.4% to €850 million, while revenue declined by a mere €200,000 to €22 million.

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