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France battles COVID-19 impairments with record online gambling revenue in 2020
L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux, or ANJ, has seen record revenue from online gambling worth €1.74 billion in 2020.
The French regulator acquired control over the regulation of online gambling in the country from ARJEL last year in order to have one figure regulating gambling. It has stated that 2020 was life-changing even though the country battled and continues to face many setbacks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Revenue from sports betting increased by 6.8% to attain €940 million, with horse racing revenue reaching €354 million, a whopping 30% increase from the previous year, since the stakes went up by 32.7% to reach €1.47 billion, which is the highest it has been since the launch of the market. The number of active accounts also increased by about 5% to reach 628,000.
The bets made on races outside of the country increased by an impressive 242.1% up to €375 million. Revenue from poker also shot up to €446 million, signaling a 64% boost, with accounts growing to reach 1.8 million (53.1%). A large portion of the poker revenue came mainly from tournaments, with total deposits worth €3.18 billion for the entire year, and total withdrawals at €1.61 billion.
ANJ remarked:
“In many ways, 2020 is an extraordinary year and a turning point for the online gaming industry; it is both a year of change and a record year in terms of activity levels. Over the whole of 2020, the online market shows very vigorous growth. The turnover of the sector grew by 22% in 2020 to reach €1.7bn: its highest level in a calendar year since the opening of the sector.”
Marketing costs for the whole year went down by 62.7% and attained €161 million, with most of it going towards bonuses: 32% to retention bonuses and 21% on new customer bonuses. Aside from that, advertising (with affiliation) accounted for 16% of this spending.
In Q4 of 2020, revenue from sports betting increased by 54.8% to reach €356 million on stakes that amounted to €2.01 billion. Included in this were football bets worth €1.42 billion, a 68% increase.
The second highest stakes came from tennis, amounting to €252 million, with €54 million spent on the French Open. Basketball wagers decreased to €148 million (46%). Bets on the NBA decreased by 76% down to €41 million. Approximately 47% of sports bettors had bet under €100, but they made up only a small portion of the general market than they did in the same quarter of the previous year. 39% of bettors also bet between €100 and €1,000.
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