France’s gross gambling revenue (GGR) remained flat at €5.7bn (£4.9bn) for the first six months of the year, despite online GGR rising 11% year on year (YoY) to €1.45bn.
The French National Gaming Authority (ANJ) said online gaming was the sole contributor of growth for the first half of the year,fuelled almost entirely by the World Cup, with sports betting stakes rising 47% compared to just 4% from January to May.
On its overall outlook, the regulator said full-year online growth will be dependent on customers sticking around after the World Cup ended in July.
Active player accounts in sports betting in June jumped 69% YoY, though stakes per account fell 14%, while live betting’s share dropped from 54% to 44%.
Breaking GGR down by sports, online football accounted for 56% of all stakes driven by the World Cup. Tennis was second, with basketball in third.
Poker GGR increased 13.4% YoY to €290m, after a flat 2025, as active player accounts grew 39% to 2.3 million.
Online horseracing had its strongest period since 2021, with stakes rising 15.8% YoY to €920m. GGR saw a small increase of 2.8% to €164m after stagnating in H1 2025.
Online player active accounts rose 24% to a record high of 5.9 million, with four million unique players – up 17% YoY.
Bonuses increased 28% to €199m. This was two-and-a-half times faster than online GGR and represented 13.8% of online GGR.
Sports betting bonuses increased 35% to €129m, with €35.5m generated in June alone – double that of H1 2025.
FDJ United, however, suffered a 2% YoY decline in GGR to €3.4bn due to poor lottery performance, ANJ said. The Unibet parent company holds a monopoly on retail sports betting and the lottery in France. Lottery accounted for the majority of the fall, €64m or 2.1%.
At group level, GGR fell 1.3% to €4.3m. Online GGR remained flat at €702m. Revenue dropped 4.5% to €1.8bn, a fall blamed on increased taxes in several markets including the UK and Netherlands. EBITDA slipped 8.4% to €404m.
Draw games declined 7.6% YoY, which was attributed to fewer and smaller EuroMillions jackpots and a heatwave in Q2 slowing down foot traffic to land-based locations.
PMU, which holds the retail monopoly on horseracing, suffered a fall for the third consecutive year, which the ANJ said was an “accelerating” decline.
Stakes fell 3.8% to €3.1bn, while GGR slipped 5.8% to €782m.
Though PMU still holds three-quarters of the market, its share of horseracing stakes dropped from 80% to 77% YoY.
Commenting on the remainder of the year, the ANJ noted: “With 5.85 million CJAs [active player accounts], the online market enters the second half of the year with an unprecedented player base. Its annual growth will depend on the activity of these players after the FIFA World Cup.
“The market’s performance for the year will depend in part on FDJ United, which accounts for 61% of gross gaming revenue excluding casinos and gaming clubs.
“The operator has indicated it aims for stable GGR for its French network activities in fiscal year 2026.”
On PMU, the regulator added: “2026 is a year of transition, marked by the renewal of its governance and the development of a ‘PMU 2030 Pact’.
“Its 2026 budget provides for a payment of €725m to the horseracing industry, compared to €802m in 2025.”
The post French market growth slows in H1 despite double-digit online gains first appeared on EGR Intel.
ANJ reveals gross revenue for digital rose 11% year on year, while active player accounts hit a record high of almost six million
The post French market growth slows in H1 despite double-digit online gains first appeared on EGR Intel.