The online sports betting market - France (2024)

1.2 A well-established and growing global market

The chart shows that the sports betting market is experiencing steady and sustained projected growth, rising from $*** billion in **** to a forecast of around $*** billion in ****.

This reflects a growing interest in sports betting, thanks in particular to the rise of online platforms. Clearly, this is a fast-growing sector, with numerous opportunities for those wishing to position themselves in a dynamic and expanding market.

The global sports betting market World, **** - ****, in billions of dollars Source: ****

*forecasts

In addition, the growing investment by many sports organizations in marketing and promotional activities has led major betting companies to invest more in sponsoring sports teams around the world. Thus, the growing promotion of sporting events can be seen as a lever for future market growth.

Rising consumer expectations have led to a proliferation of partnerships, collaborations and agreements for the launch of various platforms. In June ****, for example, Sportech PLC, a major market player in the world's gaming technology industry, had completed a strategic partnership with French gaming operator ZeTurf. The aim was to provide attractive, alternative options for betting on French races. Similarly, in May ****, the company had announced the successful launch of betting services on races in Moscow for client ...

1.3 Strong growth in the French market

According to the Ligue de Football Professionnel, sales in the online sports betting market correspond to the total amount of bets. The graph below shows how the market will evolve over the ****-**** period:

Growth in the size of the online sports betting market France, **** - ****, in millions of euros Source: ****

Thus, the size of the market has seen a clear increase since ****, with the total amount bet more than doubling in four years. It effectively reached *.*** billion euros in ****.

However, it may be interesting to observe the evolution of the PBJ (***), corresponding to the total amount bet by players minus the winnings obtained by them. The following graph shows the evolution of this indicator since ****:

The French sports betting market France, **** - ****, in €M Source: ****

Over the past four years, the market has experienced strong growth. PBJ has doubled over this period, reaching a total of €*,*** million in ****. As in the case of market size, the extraordinary increase in the indicator over the course of **** is noteworthy: in the space of a year, PBJ has risen by *** million euros. Despite the World Cup and the record number of bets placed, the increase in PBJ in **** was more discreet, due in ...

1.4 The impact of the health crisis

In ****, the online sports betting industry was booming with double-digit growth, reaching **.**%. Then, in ****, this dynamic suddenly came to a halt, marking a drop of -*.**%. This drop was more than just a figure: it illustrated the upheavals caused by the health crisis, the freeze on sporting competitions, and punters' reluctance in the face of global uncertainty.

But that was just a parenthesis. By ****, the sector had regained momentum with a spectacular **.**% increase, proving that the appetite for gambling is not just about numbers, but about unshakeable emotions and passions. Even when growth slows in **** with a slight rise of *.**%, this is no weakness.

It's a sign that the market is stabilizing, becoming more structured, and paving the way for more mature, controlled growth. In ****, the *.*% increase is proof that the sector is constantly reinventing itself and attracting ever more players in search of entertainment and experience.

Annual variations in online sports betting revenue France, ****-*****, in Source: ****

2.1 Profile of the sports bettor

As for the typical gambler's profile, a study by theANJ establishes that he "is a man (***).

Still for the year ****, the ANJ provides the following demographic data concerning the profile of bettors: the median age is ** and the average age **. Only **% of punters are women. There were *,***,*** unique players this year, and the average annual stake per player was *,*** euros.

Online gaming penetration rate France, ****, in Source: ****

This graph confirms the typical age range of online sports bettors: the majority are between ** and ** years old

2.2 An upward trend in the number of bets, players and stakes

Since the advent of online sports betting, the craze for the practice has continued to grow, and the lure of winning that drives gamblers can be seen on three levels:

- the French are betting more and more

- they are betting ever greater sums

- more and more people are betting, and many have several accounts.

The following graph illustrates the evolution of these three indicators:

number of active player accounts (***) and annual expenditure since **** France, **** - **** Source: ****

Thus, while the average bet was €**.* in ****, it would be almost a euro higher in **** (***) after bonuses rose from **.*% to **.*% between **** and ****. This encourages the recycling of winnings into bets. The stabilization of the average bet amount at **.* euros between **** and **** can be interpreted as a direct consequence of inflation. Indeed, faced with a loss of purchasing power, punters are less likely to increase their bets.

Similarly, the number of AYCs rose sharply until ****, before declining slightly in **** and **** to stabilize at *.*** million. But this decline does not mean that the number of players has decreased. In fact, the ANJ states that the number of unique players has increased by *.*% in ****. The drop in CJA actually reflects a reduction in the number ...

2.3 Football: far ahead in French preferences

As explained above, the distribution of bets depends on the competitions taking place in the various sports. Nevertheless, there are unmistakable trends regarding the most popular sports on which players prefer to bet:

Breakdown of bets by sport France, ****, in Source: ****

The data in this chart reveal a persistent but declining dominance of soccer in online sports betting in France. In ****, soccer still accounted for **% of total bets, but its share has gradually fallen to **% in ****, then to **% in ****.

Despite this decline, soccer remains the betting sport of choice, accounting for more than €*.* billion in bets. The dynamics are similar for tennis and basketball, which respectively capture **% and **% of bets in ****, and see their share remain broadly stable at **% for tennis and **% for basketball in ****.

At the same time, growth in betting on so-called "minor" sports is gaining momentum. Rugby, which accounted for just *.*% of bets in ****, rises to *.*% in ****, or *** million euros, largely supported by the World Cup.

The "Other" category, encompassing sports such as volleyball, handball, ice hockey and badminton, rises from *% in **** to *% in ****. This rise demonstrates a gradual diversification of bettors' interests, and underlines the growing appeal of niche sports, which each year claw back market share ...

2.4 The lure of profit as the main motivation

Logically enough, the prospect of winnings remains the main reason for betting activity in France. The following graph describes this trend, as well as other motivations for betting:

"Which criterion motivates you most when you bet online on matches?" France, ****, in Source: ****

Almost half of the punters surveyed consider the potential payout as the main reason for betting. But just as many bet for the excitement of the game itself (***). Gamblers' motivations are therefore highly varied. Apart from the prospect of winnings, which is the primary criterion for the vast majority of gamblers, the other motives are relatively similar in importance.

This attraction to winnings, and particularly high winnings, is also expressed in the expectations that punters have of online betting sites:

Main expectations of a sports betting site (***) France, ****, in Source: ****

Most punters (***) expect online betting sites to offer the best odds. Players want to maximize their winnings in the event of a victory, so they look for the sports betting operator offering the most attractive odds. Security of data, particularly banking data, is the second most important expectation of punters in relation to online betting sites, at **%. Security is therefore a top priority for a large proportion of ...

2.5 Team sports attract more and more punters

Amounts bet over the Olympic period France, ****, in millions of euros Source: ****

Swimming saw a sharp rise in bets during the **** Olympic Games in Paris. The "Marchand phenomenon" recorded ***,*** bets worth *.* million euros. **% of all Olympic swimming bets were placed on Léon Marchand!

However, this phenomenon remains marginal because it is the work of a single man. The overall trend is more towards team sports, with tennis accounting for * times the size of swimming in terms of bets during the Olympics.

2.6 France's favorite platforms

Which platform do the French prefer, by age group? France, ****, in Source: ****

The data show that FDJ (***) dominates all age groups by a wide margin, with strong popularity among young and old alike. This underlines its role as market leader, benefiting from a long-standing reputation and a strong physical presence.

conversely, PMU attracts a younger audience, but is less appealing to the over-**s, which may reflect a more dynamic but less established image among seniors.

Betclic and Winamax show a similar distribution, attracting mainly young adults, but rapidly losing audience as age increases. This suggests that these platforms struggle to retain users over the long term, perhaps due to a more online betting-focused positioning and a lack of diversification for older targets.

The more specialized players, such as Bwin and PokerStars, seem to attract only a niche audience, concentrated mainly in the **-** age group, and virtually disappear in the **+ age group, indicating a difficulty in breaking out of their initial segment.

French people's favorite platforms by gender France, ****, in Source: ****

The graph shows that some platforms, such as Winamax, have a highly differentiated user base by gender. Indeed, Winamax is much more popular with men(***), indicating a more masculine ...

3.1 Online sports betting market value chain

In France, the sports betting market has two main distribution channels: physical and online. These two networkstwo networks comprise ** licensed operators regulated by the ANJ acrossn all of France. A distinction is therefore made between betting carried out :

By internet, with online bets placed on the platforms and websites of online sports betting operators(***). These platforms offer over *,*** different betting offers, promotions and welcome bonuses, mobile applications, etc. In physical sales outlets, with betting carried out in the physical network of the Française des Jeux (***), through **,*** sales outlets. For example, in tobacconists, PMUs, kiosks, etc. Physical outlets offer the same type of betting as online platforms, with fewer betting options and the obligation to bet before the match. But bets are placed instantly and in cash. There are *** different betting offers per week.

3.2 A highly concentrated market

As we'll see in the regulations section, the sports betting market is highly regulated, and only ANJ-approved organizations are entitled to operate on French territory. Nevertheless, since the market was opened up to competition in ****, the number of approvals has steadily increased:

growth in the number of sports betting licences France, **** - ****, in number of licenses Source: ****

Over the past ** years, the number of approvals has almost doubled, reaching ** in **** and falling back to ** in ****. In addition to these ** approvals, FDJ has its own online betting brand, "Parions sport en ligne". FDJ has a special status insofar as it has a monopoly on sports betting at points of sale, as explained in the first section.

Moreover, while few operatorscommunicate their figures(***),Bonus Paris Sportif has produced some estimates to illustrate the sports betting site market in ****, stating that "No official statistics are available on the market shares of French bookmakers, nevertheless, various sources make it possible to assess them."

"Which sports betting sites are you familiar with?" France, ****, in % Source: ****

FDJ stands out the most among online sports betting operators, with its Parions Sport en ligne brand (***) and PMU, cited by **% of respondents, rounding out the podium.

Among the other ...

3.3 A large illegal sports betting market

Although it is difficult to accurately assess the size of the black market in sports betting, a report published by the LFP estimates that over **% of bets are made illegally. In some countries, "street" betting is very widespread (***) and culturally deeply rooted. In addition, every country in the world is confronted with illegal Internet gambling.

The complexity of betting types and formulas has increased over the last decade, creating new opportunities for cheats and new risk areas for regulators to consider. Added to this is the fact that one sporting event can be the medium for several different betting formulas. The perpetrators of criminal betting are generally attracted by betting on the winner of a match, where the winnings are higher. This enables them to bet big with less risk of detection, which in turn encourages these gangs to try and manipulate the competitions concerned.

Nevertheless, there are cases where spot-fixing (***) has been recorded. A case in point is that of footballers in the UK who accepted money to be sent home. This increases the risk of individual fraud, especially as a single element can easily manipulate a game. Although its products have helped to transform traditional betting markets, the low ...

3.4 Prognosticators with false tips

False prognosticator rate France, ****, in Source: ****

False tipsters" are players who sell advice on online sports betting while deceptively promising guaranteed winnings. Following reports from theAutorité Nationale des Jeux (***), the DGCCRF investigated ** sites offering such services.

Of these, * were in breach of the law for messages suggesting that a player using their services would have a better chance of winning money, which is illegal. These tips, known as "tips" or "tipsters", are often promoted on social networks and associated with a luxurious lifestyle that operators claim to have acquired through betting, when the reality is quite different: their lifestyle is financed by subscription fees.

At the same time, some of these sites had affiliation contracts with online betting operators to generate additional revenue. As a result of the checks, * official reports were passed on to the courts, and some sites were forced to cease trading or comply with legal requirements.

The DGCCRF is alerting consumers to these misleading practices and reminds them that any claim promising an increased chance of winning is inherently false.

4.1 Sports betting typology

There are many different ways to place sports bets in France. In this section, we'll take soccer as an example, as this sport accounts for the majority of sports bets, and it would take far too long to draw up an exhaustive list of all existing bets. What's more, the vast majority of the types of bets you can make on soccer matches are very similar to those you can make on many other sports. We can distinguish :

When to bet Pre-match bets: These are the simplest and best-known bets. Generally speaking, it's possible to place bets a few days before the start of an event, right up to the start of the match, when betting closes. There are special cases, such as the championship winner, where you need to bet a few months in advance. Live betting : this is the major difference between paper betting and online betting. The latter usually take place on a dedicated interface, often featuring video replay and commentary. Which event to bet on?

Bettors have the right to bet on different events that may occur during the same game. The types of bets vary according to operators and sports.

However, for soccer matches in France, ...

4.2 An offer promoted by intensive marketing

Despite an increase in the main indicators on the sports betting market, the reputation of this practice seems to have deteriorated since ****. The same survey conducted by Odoxa with Winamax in **** and **** shows the changing image of sports betting among the French:

The image of sports betting sites France, ****, in Source: ****

The sites are considered addictive and insufficiently controlled by a large proportion of French people. In fact, the proportion of individuals considering online sports betting sites to be well controlled has dropped by nine percentage points. And more than three quarters of those surveyed find these sites addictive. Generally speaking, positive adjectives were used less frequently in ****. To counter this sometimes damaging reputation, operators are spending ever greater sums on marketing:

Evolution of online operators' marketing spend France, **** - ****, in €M Source: ****

By ****, online operators' marketing budgets have increased by *% compared to ****, from €***m to €***m. However, this growth is not homogeneous between the various expenditure items. The media budget fell by a significant **%. In contrast, financial bonuses increased by **%, and the sponsorship budget grew by **% in ****, reaching €**M.

More specifically, operators have concentrated a huge part of their marketing expenditure on the internet:

Operators' online spending by medium France, ...

4.3 Supply trends: partnerships with content creators and bonuses

Influencer marketing

To target a younger audience, online sports betting operators often call on content creators/influencers. ** of the ** online operators called on ** content creators during the **** World Cup. This relatively recent strategy is known as influencer marketing. Among the personalities approached, ** had between *.*k and **k subscribers on at least one social network, ** between **k and ***k subscribers, ** between ***k and *M subscribers and ** more than *M subscribers. The audience for these influences is relatively young, and therefore susceptible to influence and betting (***):

Audience by age group of content creators approached by operators during the World Cup France, ****, in Source: ****

The majority are young people, with **% aged **-** and **% aged **-**.

Bonuses

Constrained by a maximum TRJ (***) of **% over two consecutive quarters, operators use bonuses to attract a growing number of punters. It's a way of boosting players' potential winnings without infringing current regulations. As a result, the total amount of bonuses paid to players has risen sharply in recent years:

Evolution of bonus payments France, **** - ****, in millions of euros Source: ****

The total amount of bonuses thus reaches astronomical sums, rising very rapidly between **** and **** to finally reach *** million euros in ****.

4.4 Seine saint denis: younger and younger punters

At what age did you start playing Seine-saint-Denis, ****, as % of population Source: ****

This graph shows just how young people are when it comes to online sports betting: **% of them started gambling at the age of ** or younger. The Parijeune survey tells us even more: the average age of punters in Seine-saint-denis is **.

The author of the study, Thomas Amadieu, explains that platforms have fully adapted to this new fact: you can start playing with very small sums, and often the first dose is offered (***).

The study's statistics don't stop there: still in Seine saint Denis, **% of those questioned said they had experienced anxiety due to sports betting, and * in * gamblers lost more than *** euros a week.

Who bets on sports among **-** year-olds? Seine-saint-denis, ****, as a % of the population Source: ****

Approximately one in four **-** year -olds in Seine-Saint-Denis is a sports betting fan, reflecting the new trend of attracting this age group increasingly through advertising.

In response, Seine-saint-denis is continuing with its **** campaign to prevent the risks associated with sports betting addiction. The main slogan: "In ****, sports operators earned *.** billion on bettors' losses".

Rémis Lataste, the ANJ's managing director, also pointed out that very few players actually won money: ...

5.1 Regulatory framework

Decree no. ****-*** of May **, ****: Specifies the conditions for approval of online sports betting operators. It sets out the rules of transparency, financing and commitments that operators must respect to obtain authorization to offer online games.(***)

Decree no. ****-*** of June *, ****: regulates the sale of betting rights by sports competition organizers. Only organizers can authorize or prohibit the operation of betting on their events, thus limiting the risk of manipulation.

Ordinance no. ****-**** of October *, ****: This ordinance reforms the organization of gambling regulation by creating theAutorité Nationale des Jeux (***), to replace the ARJEL, on January *, ****. It strengthens the new authority's powers of control and sanction, including the blocking of illegal sites and the management of approvals.

Decree no. ****-*** of March **, ****: Prohibits betting on horse races involving amateur jockeys or drivers. This decree aims to protect the integrity of amateur racing against any attempt at manipulation.

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6.1 Segmentation

• Unibet.com
• Betclic Group
• Winamax
• ZEbet Zeturf
• Bwin
• JOA groupe (JOA on line)
• BetStars
• NetBet
• France Pari
• Vbet
• Genybet
• EuroSportBet
• Française des Jeux FDJ
• PMU Pari Mutuel Urbain
• Feelingbet
• Parions Sport
• Partouche Sport