The gambling market in France has enjoyed continued growth throughout the first half of 2025 with sports betting leading the charge.
The country’s gambling regulator, the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), reported gross gaming revenue (GGR) of €5.7 billion for the first six months of the year – marking a 3.5% rise from the same period in 2024.
Online gambling generated €1.4 billion of that total and is up 6% year-on-year as the digital world stamps its authority on the industry.
Sports betting remains the nucleus of France’s regulated market, making up 69% of all online GGR in the first half of the year. Stakes rose by 15% to nearly €6 billion. Active player accounts went up by more than 10% to 4.1 million.
Football and tennis were the most popular sports among bettors and retail betting saw a steady rise, increasing 4.4% compared to last year.
The volume of tennis bets increased by 22% in the first half of 2025, linked with the Ronald Garros French Open tournament (46% and 51% increases in bets in May and June between 2024 and 2025).
Horse racing took a slight turn for the worse as GGR remained flat at €174 million. The number of active accounts grew by 3% to 513,000 but unique players declined by 3% to 447,000.
The regulator attributed those numbers to players taking advantage of welcome promotional offers.
Poker was another industry that slipped back with GGR decreasing by 4% compared to 2024 even though the number of players had increased due to cross-selling.
Cash game revenues fell by 15% to €47 million however tournament revenues remained the same at €199 million.
Euromillions made significant contributions to the growth of the lottery alongside retail sports betting and ANJ expects this trend to continue into the second half of the year.
France’s state-backed operator FDJ United enjoyed the biggest growth of all. In October 2024, FDJ acquired online gambling group Kindred to bring its betting and gaming activities under the FDJ umbrella.
In the first half of 2025, FDJ United reported €700 million in revenue from online operators – up an incredible 458% from last year.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
