French poker revenue declines in H1
GGR continues to fall but sports and horse racing wagers increase
The French online poker market has continued its decline with gross gambling revenue (GGR) falling 12% year-on-year for the first half of 2013, according to figures from regulatory body l’Autorité de regulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL).
The numbers, released at a meeting of six online gambling regulators and published by Agence France Presse (AFP), showed GGR dropped to 135m for the six months ended 30 June. Turnover was down 14% year-on-year to 2.7bn and the number of active players was also down 7% to 906,000.
The decline is in line with first-quarter figures, which saw French online poker GGR fall 13% for the first quarter of 2013. Jean-François Vilotte, president of regulatory body ARJEL, in January described the lack of demand for the vertical as a “matter of concern”. Partouche became the latest operator to withdraw from the dot.fr poker market in June, leaving just seven sites and networks active in the jurisdiction.
The latest online poker figures are in contrast to the sports betting sector which recorded an 11.5% increase in revenue to 80m, with football club Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 success responsible in part for the upturn. Horseracing revenue also grew slightly by 2.5% to 137m, ahead of the introduction of a horseracing levy at the beginning of next year.
Last month saw ARJEL enter into an agreement with advertising authority ARPP in an effort to tackle gambling addiction.