Betclic Everest targets increased market share with poker relaunch
French operator aims to secure top three position with Everest Poker product in struggling French market
Betclic Everest Group has announced a relaunch of its Everest Poker brand as the company looks to increase its market share in the French online poker market by 50% next year.
The French operator plans to achieve a top three position in the market after successfully completing its migration to the Playtech iPoker network which Betclic Everest CEO Isabelle Andres told eGaming Review had put the company in a strong position.
Betclic Everest has also launched what Andres called a “heavily invested” marketing campaign across all media channels including a three-month long TV advertising campaign which will receive “major investment”.
The relaunch will see a wave of new additions, including a sit-and-go feature and loyalty programme, and will coincide with the release of a new native Everest.fr and Betclic.fr mobile app which is currently awaiting approval from the regulatory body ARJEL.
“After the migration to the iPoker network, which took us some time to improve our offering, we believe that we now have a good product,” Andres said. “We have some features which are really exciting, a strong product and also a historical brand.”
“We see a decline in the poker market in France but we still think it remains a significant market,” Andres said. “Some operators left the market so there is more room for the ones that are remaining and we definitely think there is a challenger place up for grabs.”
The news comes despite the French online poker market continuing to struggle – Q3 2013 results showed a 17% year-on-year fall in gross gambling revenue (GGR), while amounts staked suffered its biggest ever quarterly decline of 21%.
According to figures from ARJEL, poker GGR dropped to 58m in the quarter, down from the 70m recorded over the same period last year. The total amount staked on online poker also fell sharply, down 21% year-on-year to 1.1bn, the largest decline recorded by the regulator since the market opened in 2010.