French market review

French regulatory body ARJEL reports that the French online gambling market has entered into a consolidation phase and provides an interesting insight into the make-up of the French betting public and breakdown of gambling sectors in its latest quarterly review.

While the sportsbetting market showed a 16 percent increase compared to the previous quarter, ARJEL highlights the year-on-year decline of 24 percent in activity compared to Q3/2010 attributing the gross gaming revenue (GGR) increase in Q3/2011 to a lesser rate of return to players from 83 percent to 80 percent compared to Q2/2011.

The stringent fiscal and tax regime has forced operators to cut where they can in order to stay competitive, but issues such as a less attractive rate of return is what has authorities concerned that punters will turn to non-licenced operators to achieve better pay-outs.

“If the question of the tax model is not examined carefully, players may desert the legal sites. It is necessary to change the tax base, to give leeway to the operators. The status quo does not constitute a guarantee of the maintenance tax revenue because the economic model of the market is too fragile”,  Jean-François Vilotte, president of the regulatory authority for online games (ARJEL ) told French publication Le Figaro.

Horserace betting stakes on the other hand soared 45 percent to Euro 69 million (Q3/2010: Euro 39 million) and continue to rise regardless of the timing or season.

Online poker tournaments have experienced rapid growth in the market recording an increase of over 89 percent in admissions to Euros 286 million (Q3/2010: Euros 141 million) garnering Euros 825 million in tournament entry fees alone.

The review goes on to reveal some interesting player demographics :

–  The age of the typical French online gambler in all sectors is under 35 years of age.

–  Deposits an average of Euros 74 per month into their account.

–  10 percent of Sports bettors place their bets via mobile devices and have proved to be the youngest bettors.

–  69 percent of sports bettors are between 18 and 35, against 24 percent of horse bettors.

–  In terms of expenditure, youth commit less money than their seniors with under-25’s placing an average of Euros 146 as opposed to over-65’s placing Euros 357.

–  1 percent of all players generate 53 percent of total bets.

Marketers in the French market:

–  Tough fiscal conditions have seen operators reduce their media budget by 58 percent media to Euros 38 million (Q3/2010: 90 million).

–  Internet is the operators preferred advertising medium, commiting 20 percent of their budgets as opposed to 12 percent allocated to TV, media, radio, press and cinema advertising.

–  Operators opted for a bonus and sponsorship-based strategy in 2011’s third quarter.

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