The French Gambling Market is Confirming Its Growth Dynamic After a Temporary Decline Linked to the Covid-19 Health Crisis
In 2023, turnover (gross gaming product) reaches €13.4 billion, an increase of 3.5% compared to 2022. All market segments recorded growth in their GGR. After stabilizing in 2022, online games are growing again. In 2024, operators will have to be particularly attentive to the gambling practices of punters so that the observed movement of intensification does not accelerate with a particularly rich sporting calendar.
The French gambling market is confirming its growth dynamic after a temporary decline linked to the Covid-19 health crisis. The year 2023 records the highest level of activity with €13.4 billion in GGR. For the first time since 2019, all market segments recorded growth in their GGR, with significant disparities between segments ranging from +0.9% to +14.1%. With growth of 3.5%, France is slightly below the growth of the European market which stands at 5.5% (i.e. €134 billion in GGR).
Operators under exclusive rights (FDJ and PMU) represent 62.7% of the total GGR
The FDJ sets a new activity record, with a GGR of €6.6 billion, up 1.8% compared to 2022.
In 2023, around 27 million French people will be FDJ players, which represents an increase of 6% compared to 2022.
Point-of-sale sports betting and competing activities are the main drivers of this growth with an increase of 10.4% in GGR compared to 2022. The GGR of these activities, which represents 16.2% of the total GGR of the group, reached €1,076 million in gross profit.
The group integrated the operator Zeturf, active in the sports betting and horse racing segments in competition in the third quarter of 2023. It is now present in all online gaming segments.
PMU’s horse racing betting activity is progressing in 2023 but is seeing a slowdown in its growth with stakes and GRP standing at €6.8 billion and €1.7 billion respectively (i.e. +1% compared to 2022). Activity has thus returned to its level of 2019, the last reference year before the health crisis.
In order to boost its activity, the PMU sought to further animate its offer during the year 2023, five of its products having undergone changes, and it carried out an optimization of the racing calendar.
Casinos, a growing sector which concerns the vast majority of establishments
For this second “normal” financial year after the health crisis, casino activity grew by 8.1%, allowing the sector to reach a record level of revenue with a GGR of €2.7 billion in 2023 . This performance concerns the majority of casinos: 73.8% of establishments returned to a level of GRP higher than that of 2019. Slot machines (MAS) continue to contribute the vast majority to the GGR of casinos (proportion greater than 80%).
The activity of the 7 gaming clubs continued to grow between 2022 and 2023, with a GGR increasing by 10.9%, going from €107.3 million in 2022 to €119 million in 2023.
A growing online gaming market after a year of stabilization in 2022
The total online GGR reached €2.3 billion, up 7.2% compared to 2022, a year marked by moderate growth of 0.8% compared to 2021. The online market represents 17.5% share Steps.
The online market is driven by the sports betting activity (63.3% of online GRP), followed by poker (21.6% of online GRP) and horse racing betting (15.1% of online GRP). line).
The number of unique players reached 3.6 million, increasing in all segments except sports betting.
Online sports betting, a segment that remains dynamic despite an erosion of the player base
Online sports betting remains, once again this year, the most invested segment of the market. At the end of 2023, 16 approved operators share the market.
Despite a year without a major sporting event, the online sports betting activity posted growth in its GRP of 6.4% compared to 2022, which reached €1.5 billion, with stakes increasing by 2.2% (8 490M€) .
This same calendar effect seems to have led to a decrease in the pool of unique players (-7.3%) and the number of active accounts (-3.9%), after several years of continuous growth in the number of players since 2019.
The drop in the number of players coupled with the increase in stakes leads to an increase in average stakes per CJA of around 6.3% (€1,864 to €1,982), which may lead to more intensive gaming practices . In 2024, operators will have to be particularly attentive to the evolution of punters’ gaming practices so that the observed intensification movement does not accelerate and ultimately result in an increase in the number of excessive players.
Among the 44 sports open to betting in France, 4 particularly stand out for the amounts of bets committed: football (€4,443 million in bets), tennis (€1,923 million), basketball (€899 million) and Rugby ( €247M, with increased stakes in September and October during the World Cup). In 2023, these 4 sports alone represent 88.5% of online sports betting stakes . Since 2021, this figure has been declining, due to continued growth in other sports (including volleyball, ice hockey, badminton, handball, etc.).
Online horse racing betting returns to growth
The year 2023 was a favorable year for online horse racing betting with a GGR of €353M, up 1.9% and a stake level of €1,513M, also up 5.1% . CJA increases by 4.5% and the number of unique players by 1.5%. These elements underline that horse racing betting attracts new players, who, unlike sports betting, are more loyal to an operator (1.2 accounts per player compared to 1.4 in sports betting).
A strong resumption of activity for poker which exceeds the records reached during the health crisis
The year 2023 establishes record results which exceed the peak reached in 2020. The GGR of the segment reached €504M, up 14.1% compared to 2022 . The cumulative activities of multi-table tournaments (MTT) [1] and Sit&Go [2] represent more than 77% of the GBP.
Over the period 2019-2023, the average annual growth rate (CAGR) of the PBJ stands at 16.6%.
The number of CJAs is also increasing by 7.7% compared to 2022 with 1.9M CJAs.
[1] Multi-table tournament (MTT): Poker tournaments starting at defined times/days, regardless of the number of players.
[2] Sit&Go: Games starting when the number of players required to start the game is reached.
Summary of online gaming activity data in 2023
| 2022 | 2023 | Var. 2022/2023 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sport bets | Number of CJAs | 4,457,000 | 4,284,000 | -3.9% |
| Bets | €8,307 million | €8,490 million | +2.2% | |
| Gross Games Product | €1,389 million | €1,477 million | +6.4% | |
| Horse racing betting | Number of CJAs | 625,000 | 653,000 | +4.5% |
| Bets | €1,439 million | €1,513 million | +5.1% | |
| Gross Games Product | €346M | €353M | +1.9% | |
| Poker | Number of CJAs | 1,763,000 | 1,899,000 | +7.7% |
| Gross Games Product | €442M | €504M | +14.1% | |
| Total online gaming market | Number of CJAs | 5,213,000 | 5,096,000 | -2.2% |
| Gross Games Product | €2,177 million | €2,334 million | +7.2% |
For Isabelle FALQUE-PIERROTIN, President of the ANJ: “This good health of the market demonstrates that demanding regulation is not an obstacle to development. This growth makes all the more relevant the objective of reducing the number of excessive gamblers that the ANJ has placed at the center of its action for the years to come. In a 2024 context marked by the holding of two major sporting events (Euro 2024 football and the Paris Olympic Games), the ANJ reminded operators that, due to the risk of intensification of gaming practices, they will have to exercise increased vigilance with regard to the prevention of gambling among minors and gambling behavior, particularly among vulnerable people (notably 18-24 year olds).”
