French Gambling Market Consolidation

Tuesday January 15, 2013 : ARJEL ANNUAL FIGURES CONFIRM MARKET CONSOLIDATION
 
Only 22 operators remain from 35 listed end 2011
 
Latest figures from the French online gambling authority ARJEL covering the year ending December 31, 2012 confirm consolidation within the French market compared to the previous year attributed to a tough economic climate and a stringent tax regime.
 
ARJEL reported the award of only two new licences and the repeal of 17 others (7 sportsbetting, 1 horserace betting and 9 poker) over 2012.  Two other licencees were authorised to extend their offering to include fixed sports betting, however, the market had shrunk from 35 operators as at end December 2011 to 22 at end December 2012.
 
Other stats include:
 
–   Total player account deposits amounted to Euro 988 million (2011: Euro 1.06 Billion) and Euro 435 million was withdrawn (2011: Euro 457 million).
 
Sportsbetting:
 
–   Active sportsbetting player accounts have grown 9 percent from 705 000 in 2011 to 765 000 in 2012.
–   Sportsbets placed grew 19 percent to Euro 705 million (2011: Euro 592 million).
–   Gross gaming revenues also grew 19 percent to Euro 138 million (2011: Euro 115 million)
–   Player rate of return (excluding bonuses) was down 1 percent to 80 percent in 2012.
–   59 percent of the sportsbetting market was attributed to football betting, followed by tennis at 19 percent and basketball at 8 percent.
 
Online Horserace Betting:
 
–   Active player accounts showed a marginal increase of 1 percent to 509 000 from 502 000 in 2011.
–   Bets staked in 2012 amounted to Euro 1,124 million (2011: Euro 1,034 million), an increase of 9 percent
–   Gross gaming revenues rose 8.5 percent to Euro 263 million (2011: Euro 243 million)
–   Player rate of return (excluding bonuses) rose 1 percent to 77 percent in 2012.
 
Online Poker:
 
–   Active player accounts amounted to 1 717 000 (2011: 1 686 000), up 2 percent.
–   Cash game stakes amounted to Euro 6,182 million (2011: 6,534 million), down 5 percent
–   Tournament admissions rose 21 percent from Euro 1,159 million in 2011 to Euro 1,397 million.
–   Gross gaming revenue showed a decline of 5 percent from Euro 314 million in 2011 to Euro 297 million in 2012.
–   Player rate of return was static at 96 percent.