Sports betting the French market’s saviour

Reporting on the third quarter performance of the local gambling industry this week, France’s gambling regulator ARJEL highlighted the outstanding returns from sports betting, which reported GGR up by a remarkable 94 percent to Euro 60 million (Q3-2013: Euro 31 million).

The boost came mainly from the World Cup football in Brazil, where French gambling firms attracted Euro 47 million in wagers.

French punters increased their wagering by 34 percent to Euro 245 million on sports (Q3-2013: Euro 182 million) with football the most popular attraction, pulling in 63 percent of the action, and tennis the next popular at 24 percent.

Horse racing continued to struggle, with a drop of 7 percent in GGR to Euro 238 million, and revenue remaining flat.

Online poker continued to reel from the negative affects of high taxation and a restricted market, dropping another 2 percent to Euro 57 million, with the only positive spot tournament activity, which rose marginally to Euro 354 million (Q3-2013: Euro 352 million).  Cash game action declined Euro 59 million to Euro 1.040 billion).

Related and similar