French online betting market reaches €2.3 billion up 7.2%

Finance News

The French gambling market is continuing to grow, after a temporary dip following the Covid-19 . The year 2023 saw the highest level of activity, with GGR of €13.4 billion.

For the first time since 2019, all market segments recorded growth in GGR, although there were significant disparities between segments, ranging from +0.9% to +14.1%. With growth of 3.5%, France is slightly below the European market growth rate of 5.5% (€134bn in GGR).

FDJ (Française des jeux) sets a new business record, with GGR reaching €6.6 billion, up 1.8% on 2022.

In 2023, approximately 27 million French people are FDJ players, representing a 6% increase compared to 2022.

Retail sports betting and non-monopoly gambling activities are the main drivers of this growth, with GGR up 10.4% year-on-year. GGR from these activities, which account for 16.2% of the Group’s total GGR, reached €1,076m.

In the third quarter of 2023, the Group integrated the operator Zeturf, which is active in the online sports and horse betting segments. It is now present in all online gambling segments.

PMU’s horse betting business grew in 2023 but at a slower pace, with stakes and GGR coming in at €6.8bn and €1.7bn respectively (i.e. +1% compared to 2022). Business will thus return to its 2019 level, the last reference year before the health crisis.

With a view to boosting its business, PMU (Paris Mutuel Urbain) has sought to make its offering more dynamic during 2023, with changes to five of its products, and has optimised its racing calendar.

Total online gross reached €2.3 billion, up 7.2% compared with 2022, a year marked by moderate growth of 0.8% compared with 2021. The online market represents a 17.5% market share.

The online market is driven by sports betting (63.3% of online GGR), followed by poker (21.6% of online GGR) and horse betting (15.1% of online GGR).

The number of unique players reached 3.6 million, an increase in all segments except sports betting.

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