The French gambling regulator Autorité de Régulation des Jeux En Ligne (ARJEL), publish their 2014 Q3 results and it’s good news as gross gaming revenues from sports betting increase by as much as 94%.
There has been a lot said about the high taxation rates that consumers have to live with in the French gambling industry but that hasn’t stopped French punters from having a dabble.
The French gambling regulator Autorité de Régulation des Jeux En Ligne (ARJEL) have just published their 2014 Q3 industry performance report, and it’s sports betting that is getting the pats on the back with a whopping 94% increase in gross gaming revenues to €60m, compared to €31m year-on-year.
That astonishing amount was hit, in part, due to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil crossing between Q2 & Q3 balance sheets. French bookies took €47m during the World Cup, as the French team enjoyed a renaissance before exiting rather drably at the hands of the eventual champions Germany, in the quarter finals.
The report also showed that French sports betting operators saw total wagering increase by 34% to €245m, compared to €182m year-on-year. Betting on football was the most popular activity (63%), with tennis the second most popular sport (24%).
However, French horse racing saw a decline of 7% in wagering to €238m, although overall revenue for the sport of kings remained as-is.
Online Poker Results See a 2% Decrease in Gaming Revenues
In September, ARJEL President, Charles Coppolani, issued a public statement stating that poker was nothing more than a ‘fad’ and that it’s ‘over.’
The Q3 numbers do lean in that direction, after the French online poker market saw a 2% decrease in gaming revenues to €57m. Cash games saw a €59m drop (from €1.099bn to €1.040bn), but tournament entries had risen from €352m to €354m.
Despite originally cancelling his meeting with a selected group of French players and journalists, in the aftermath of the Europoker debacle, Coppolani did indeed meet with them after all.
The players raised three main issues with Coppolani: a widening of the games offered to the French online poker community to include more mixed games, a reduction in taxation so online poker operators could reduce rake, and the opportunity of opening their online borders to share liquidity with the likes of the UK, Spain and Italy.
Feedback from the meeting was positive and Coppolani promised the group that communication would improve between ARJEL and the players in the future.
