Sports betting in France breaks €5bn stakes barrier during 2019
Growth in horseracing and online poker verticals revealed as industry continues to attract new players
Sports betting in France saw total bets placed surpass the €5bn mark for the first time during 2019, with a 30% increase in overall stakes from 2018, according to data released by the French regulator, ARJEL.
In its latest report, ARJEL also revealed a 27% year-on-year increase (YoY) in gross gambling revenue (GGR) for sports betting from €691m in 2018 to €880m in 2019.
Football accounted for more than €846m of the €1.5bn placed on sport during Q4 2019, with basketball in second spot and €271.9m in total stakes.
The retail sports betting side of the market also experienced growth, with French national lottery operator La Française des Jeux reporting a 10% increase in bets placed at retail premises.
France’s horseracing market continued its momentum for the third consecutive year, recording a 5% YoY increase in total stakes for 2019. This was similar growth to that achieved from 2017 to 2018.
In Q4 2019, €294m was staked on racing, the highest amount for seven years and a 7% increase over the same time period in 2018. The number of players per week betting on the sport grew 6% YoY to 146,000.
Meanwhile, online poker continued on an upward trend in Q4 as GGR rose 6% YoY to €272m from €258m. Traffic also climbed by 8% as players per week hit an average of 269,500 in 2019, with a significant proportion of the increase down to new poker players signing up in the second half of the year.
The gambling industry as a whole posted growth across the three branches of sports betting, horseracing and online poker.
The number of unique players rose 5% to 2.8 million and the number of players betting per week on average grew 18% to 919,000.