Betclic files complaint against PMU
Operator complains over PMU's dominance of horse betting sector " former monopoly said to have 85% market share.
Betclic has filed a complaint with the French Competition Authority over Pari-Mutuel Urbain’s dominance of the horse racing sector.
French newspaper Les Echos reported that the operator, which has seen a number of high-profile departures over the past few months, most recently co-founder Eric Moncada and CTO Pierrick Pétain, has complained about the dominance of former monopoly PMU in the horse betting sector, suggesting that it prevents private operators from developing a successful operation in the vertical.
In ARJEL’s Q4 figures for 2011, horse betting was the only licensed vertical to experience significant growth, with amounts wagered up 12% to 1.034bn for the year, and gross win of 243m. The complaint comes after the Q4 figures revealed that sports betting in France was in serious decline, falling 23% for the second consecutive quarter.
PMU holds an 85% share of the horse betting market according to Les Echos, suggesting that 878.9m of the total wagers placed were through the former monopoly. Its nearest competitor ZEturf’s market share was revealed by ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte to be “not far” from 10%, while Betnet, acquired by France Pari in December last year, held a share of around 1.5-2%.
The company also takes wagers through its retail operation, which remains a monopoly, an area reportedly seen to give it an unfair advantage when recruiting online players. PMU reported in January that its turnover from online activities in 2011 had exceeded 1bn for the first time after a 45% year-on-year increase.