ARJEL highlights rapidly declining French market
Sports betting down 23% for second consecutive quarter with cash poker numbers also falling.
The decline in the French sports betting market shows no sign of stopping following ARJEL’s most recent Q4 2011 results, prompting its president to again call for urgent regulatory reform.
Despite experiencing its most successful quarter of the year with players betting a total of 154m, amounts wagered on sports betting dropped 23% year-on-year for the second consecutive quarter, with Q4 gross win decreasing 10% from 31m to 28m.
The continuing decline was described by ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte as a “cause for concern,” as it could lead to players returning to unregulated sites. Vilotte again called for a review of the economic framework and financial constraints placed on operators by French regulation, echoing the appeal he made following the release of the regulator’s Q3 figures last year.
Cash poker also declined quarter-on-quarter in the figures for the three months ending 31 December 2011, with amounts wagered falling 3% from 1.92bn in Q4 2010 to $1.87bn for the same period in 2011.
The decline was compounded by a 10% drop in active cash poker players for the quarter, although this was offset by a 16% rise in active tournament player accounts, for an overall 5% quarter-on-quarter rise in active accounts. Amounts wagered on tournaments rose from 261m to 324m, a 24% increase for the quarter, and an overall increase of 48% on H2 2010.
Horse betting, however, has enjoyed consistent growth, with active player numbers rising 38% and gross win up 29%, increasing to 66m from 51m year-on-year. Amounts wagered rose 26% from H2 2010 to the same period in 2011, with the majority of wagers placed in Northern France.
ARJEL also revealed that operators have cut their advertising budgets in half, with only 46m invested in advertising in Q4 compared to 93m in 2010. This was attributed to companies cutting back on TV, press and radio advertising to focus their attention instead on online marketing channels such as affiliates, with more than a quarter of total advertising expenditure spent online.