Upward trajectory continues in French market

First quarter results for the 12 weeks ending March 31, 2018 were released Monday by the French regulatory authority ARJEL showing growth across all segments.

The market was driven during the first quarter 2018 by online sportsbetting which generated stakes of Euro 847 million, up 34 percent and marking an all time high.

This segment was boosted by an increase in bettors, ARJEL reports, reaching 462,500 active player accounts each week (Q1/2017: 341,000). Online sportsbetting revenues increased 55 percent to reach Euro 147 million (Q1/2017: Euro 94 million).

The sportsbetting market was led by football betting (55 percent of all bets) with Ligue 1 betting reaching Euro 81 million in stakes alone.

Tennis accounted for 19 percent of online sports bets, followed by Basketball.  These three disciplines accounted for 89 percent of all online sports bets during the trimester.

Online horserace betting wagers grew 9 percent to reach Euro 270 million (Q1/2017: Euro 246 million), again attributed to an increase in bettors.  Quarterly turnover grew 8 percent to reach Euro 65 million.

The revival of online poker cash games and tournaments in 2017 continued into the first quarter with overall turnover reaching Euro 69 million, up 5 percent y-o-y, and a 6 percent increase in the online poker player base.

Cash game wagers reached Euro 1,106 million, up 18 percent y-o-y, while tournament poker players forked out almost Euro 594 million (Q1/2017: Euro 520 million) in entry fees, up 14 percent.

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