The French National Gaming Authority (ANJ) has published revenue data for the year 2021 revealing that the country’s licensed gambling operators recorded €10.7 billion ($11.5 billion) for the year.
Online sports betting GGR increased by 44% year-on-year
The report notes that pandemic-forced restrictions on the retail gambling sector saw a significant drop in revenue for 2020. However, an industry shift towards online gambling products and services along with the reopening of land-based facilities saw revenue for 2021 increase by 7% year-on-year.
ANJ cited an ‘enthusiasm for online sports betting’ as the key driver of online gambling revenue as mobile sports betting companies recorded €1.3 billion ($1.39 billion) in gross gaming revenue (GGR). This was an increase of 44% on the previous year as online sportsbooks accepted over €7.89 billion ($8.46 billion) in wagers throughout the year, up 47% from 2020’s figures.
France’s two monopoly operators, La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) and Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), were unsurprisingly responsible for more than 61% of 2021’s overall GGR.
FDY was the market leader with over €5 billion ($5.36 billion) in revenue, up by 16% from the previous year. Meanwhile PMU reported €1.6 billion ($1.71 billion) in revenue, and increase of 14% year-on-year. Despite both showing similar growth in 2021, only FDJ’s GGR exceeded 2019’s pre-pandemic levels. PMU actually generated less in revenue in 2021 than it did in 2019.
However, while online sports betting and online gambling in general enjoyed positive returns, the land-based casino industry didn’t fare quite so well. The casino industry reported GGR of just €1.08 billion ($1.15 billion) up until October 31st. This represents a drop of 41% year-on-year.
The report noted that:
“From a longer-term perspective, the gambling market has increased since 2017. The overall GGR has thus increased by almost 7% since 2017, from €10bn to around €10.7bn.
This progress is very clearly driven by online games, more specifically online sports betting. At the end of 2021, the turnover of the online market represented approximately 20% of the sector’s overall turnover, compared to 9.5% in 2017.”
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.