French official gaming regulator, the ANJ, posted the revenue report which clearly shows that online gaming is noticing an increase in revenue for Q1 of 2021. More specifically, the first quarter of 2021 is noticing 35% growth for French online gaming, as opposed to the year before. The total income revenue reported by the ANJ amounts to €587m(£505/$715). Consequently, the major contributor to these numbers is definitely the pandemic.
Moreover, during that time there is a 19.1% increase in new active players’ registrations, or €3.1 million. And according to the French ANJ, this is definitely one of the main reasons for the big revenue. However, it seems that just like many other European countries, France is noticing a rise in profit from gaming. And that is in pretty much every online gaming sector available.
One of the areas that reported a hefty increase in revenue is sports betting. To be specific, there is a 78% increase or €2.18bn in wagers by active players. That is quite noticeable, but if we take into account that last year there was pretty much a year-long suspension on sports, we can say that is somewhat expected. Moreover, active sports betting accounts are also on the rise with 29.2%, or €2.5 million. The regulator ANJ believes that these numbers will spike up during the Olympics and EURO 2021. Consequently, there is a €356m revenue from betting, out of which €172m is going for taxes.
Understandably, the most popular sport in France for betting is yet again football(soccer), with €1.3bn in wagers. Second place is for basketball with €362m, while tennis comes third with €340m. Finally, rugby is last with €49m.
Horse racing on the other hand is reporting strong numbers as well. More specifically, there were €481.0m in wagers or a 59.9% increase. Moreover, there is a 13.3% increase in new accounts, or exactly 402.000. All of this made for total revenue of €110m, or a nice 48% increase. French poker gaming is also part of the 35% growth, noticing strong numbers as well. Specifically, there is a 23% increase in revenue in comparison to 2020. At the same time, there is a 9% rise in new active player accounts, or 991.000.
