Sports betting handle grew 44% year-on-year to €286m while the return to players fell 2.6 points to 82%, all of which helped push sports bet revenue up 64% to €59m. Total football wagers over the second quarter rose 76% and the first three weeks of World Cup action in June generated €62m in wagers, nearly matching the €65.2m generated during the entire 2010 tournament and doubling the €30.8m generated during the Euro 2012 contest. Total Q2 football revenue rose 110.8% to €39m.
Total wagering on France’s World Cup squad came to €8.1m over the five games played, with €2.2m coming in the round of 16 match against Nigeria and €3.3m in the team’s quarterfinal loss to Germany. The final match between Germany and Argentina generated nearly €6m in wagers, from which French operators reaped €3.4m in revenue thanks to regular time ending in a draw.
Even discounting the World Cup, Q2 football wagering on European League matches was up 42%, Champions League up 27% and the domestic market’s League 2 up 7%. Only League 1 matches showed a decrease, dipping 12% to €12.6m, which ARJEL blamed on Paris Saint-Germain FC having distanced itself from its competitors so early in the running.
Other sports also enjoyed wagering increases, with tennis up 3% to €57.2m, basketball up 30% to €21.9m, rugby up 14% to €6.2m and volleyball up 75% to €6m. Tennis betting revenue came in at €10.4m (+10.6%), basketball at €4.1m (+32.3%), volleyball earned €1m (+100%) and rugby added €0.9m (-10%). As might be expected in a World Cup year, the number of active betting accounts rose 51% to 178k in Q2.
The World Cup windfall allowed total sports betting handle to eclipse horseracing wagers for the first time since the 2010 tournament. Horseracing bets fell 7% to €255m, despite a 20% increase in bonuses offered to players and a 3% increase in the number of races. Return to players fell 0.6 points to 77.7%, resulting in a 2% revenue decline to €64m.
Poker cash games continued their free-fall, with stakes diving 17% to €1.05b. ARJEL said the average weekly amount wagered was €80.6m, but one particularly dire week reported just over €71m, the lowest total recorded since the French regulated market opened. The average weekly cash game total is down 31% in two years. Tournament stakes rose 6% to €363m, but overall poker revenue fell 9% to €57.5m. For the first half of 2014, total poker revenue is down 17% to €112.5m.
The number of active online poker accounts fell 13% year-on-year to 238k, with cash game players falling 21% to 84k and tournament ranks down 13% to 214k. This marks the first such tandem decrease since the market regulated, although, as noted above, tournament stakes were still up year-on-year.