France’s regulated online gambling market suffered a revenue decline in the second quarter as online poker activity more than doubled year-on-year. Figures recently released by France’s new Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) gambling regulator show locally licensed online gambling operators a 6% decline from the same period last year but a nearly 26% decline from Q1 2020.
It means that they generated combined revenue of €323m in the three months ending June 30. Like most other gambling markets, France’s sports betting revenue took a major hit following the pandemic-related suspension of major league activity early in Q2.
But French bettors turned their attention to Belarusian football, South Korean baseball, Australia’s National Rugby League which continued to play despite the pandemic.
Online poker benefited enormously from the sports halt, as poker revenue shot up 126% to €142m, the largest gain in the decade-plus of France’s regulated market, as weekly active players rose 68% to 1.06m. Cash game revenue improved 82% to €39m while tournaments leaped 149% to €103m.
Poker’s gains were most evident during the initial pandemic lockdown period of Q2, with poker stakes spiking 222% in the week of April 13-19. The gains slowed as the lockdown eased, although ANJ says poker revenue was still up 50% year-on-year during Q2’s final week.
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