Identical the evolution of the online gaming market in France during the first three months of the year compared to most of the countries that had already presented results: operators' revenues grew 22% compared to the same period last year. Behind this increase in activity: the first weeks of confinement after the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also pointed out that the second quarter could show a higher performance. In any case, poker is the fastest growing segment.
The Online Gambling Regulator in France, ARJEL, has just presented its quarterly report on the evolution of the main variables that show the evolution of operators and the volume of total and segment gaming.
The main news is that Gross Revenue or Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) grows strongly up to 22% year-on-year. Obviously, behind this unusual increase is the impact of the coronavirus, which is also expected to be present in the more than likely greater increase in the second quarter once the sports betting subsector has been activated.
Altogether, the GGR until March 31 increases to 435 million euros and was largely thanks to the solid growth of poker, where operators such as Winamax or PokerStars increased their traffic and registrations to levels never seen before. In fact, poker (94% in its Texas Holdem modality) represented 23% of the total GGR, while sports betting represented 60%, 2% less.
Regarding the evolution of poker, it was specifically the last two weeks of March where the increase occurred, after the suspension of live sport, which made poker preference a reality, increasing the volume of play up to 180%.
Overall, the average number of active gamer players (weekly average) also grew, increasing 37% to 374,000.
Sports betting fell 4% to € 1.22 billion, the first decrease in nine years, which was due to the suspension of French Ligue 1 and 2 on March 13, which was finally canceled in late April.
Since the suspension, sports betting has decreased 40%, and while average player accounts increased 2% to 655,000 for the first quarter, only 220,000 were active in the last two weeks of March.
The horse race in the GGR grew by 10% to 74 million euros, something that was also reflected in the international obstacle tests of this modality where the increase rose by 10%, to 300 million euros € 300m, the most discharge for any quarter in seven years.
Despite the general increase in the online GGR, ARJEL warned that the full effect of the pandemic will not be fully felt until the second quarter, according to trends shown by certain verticals in the last weeks of the first quarter.
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