French gambling market continues steady growth trajectory
FDJ United has consolidated its position across all segments while revenue rose in H1.
France.- The gambling regulator L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has published its report on the evolution of the French gambling market in the first half of 2025. With revenue rising by 4 per cent year-on-year, the growth of the market appears to remain in line with that seen over the past two years. One player, FDJ United, has consolidated its position across all segments, the regulator said.
The online market was driven by sports betting. Despite the 2025 sporting calendar being less dense than in 2024, this does not appear to have significantly impacted the dynamism of the gambling market.
All sports betting indicators grew strongly, with stakes up by 15 per cent year-on-year to €6bn. Gross profit was up 10% at €961m, and the number of wagers was up more than 10 per cent.
Active player accounts (APA) stood at 4.7m, an increase of 9 per cent compared to H1 2024. This growth is observable across all three segments of the online market, which may indicate continued recruitment via cross-selling by operators.
The ANJ forecast that the growth could continue in the second half of the year if newly recruited players are retained and if the recruitment of new players continues, under the effect of the operators’ commercial strategies, including an increase in the average spend and cross-selling. However, it noted that it is still difficult to assess the potential impact of the increase in French gambling tax that took place on July 1, which the regulator recognised may have affected operators’ marketing expenses.
Contrasting trends for poker and horse racing
The online market’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at €1.4bn in H1 2025, up 6 per cent compared to the same period last year. This overall performance, however, masks contrasting trends: while online sports betting remains the driving force, horse racing betting saw mixed performance, and poker saw a sharp decline in activity.
Horseracing stakes growth slowed to 1 per cent in H1 2025 after 2.3 per cent growth in H1 2023 and 6 per cent in H1 2024. However, GGR remained stable at €174m. APCs increased although the number of unique players fell (+3 per cent to 513,000 APCs and -3 per cent of unique players to 447,000). These figures seem to reflect an increase in competitive intensity in the segment with players taking advantage of welcome promotional offers.
Poker GGR came in at €246m, down 4 per cent compared to the same period in 2024, despite an increase in the number of players due to cross-selling. The Cash Game format is in sharp decline with GGR down 15 per cent (€47m) while the MTT and Sit&Go formats are holding steady (€199m GGR in H1 2025 compared to €202m in H1 last year). However, the number of APG and unique players rose strongly, with 1.7m APG (+12 per cent compared to H1 2024) and 1.3 million unique players (+10 per cent), driven by cross-selling.
Consolidation of FDJ United’s position
The ANJ noted that due to the acquisition of Kindred in October 2024, FDJ United’s gross profit in H1 2025 was up 19 per cent compared to H1 2024. On a comparable basis, the group’s gross profit was up 1.6 per cent to €4.4nn while revenue was down 1.7 per cent to €1.9bn.
FDJ’s Online Betting and Gaming segment (now including Kindred’s online activities in Europe) saw revenue rise from €126m in H1 2024 to €700m in H1 2025 (+458 per cent). The Lottery and sports betting network France segment (games under exclusive rights in France) grew by 4.4 per cent in H1 2025, with particular dynamism in draw games (+8.8 per cent), which benefited from the long Euromillions cycles (more than 20 super jackpots above €75m over the half-year), and the good performance of instant games.
Regarding PMU’s activities under exclusive rights, the decline in stakes (€3.2bn in H1 2025, -4.2 per cent compared to H1 2024) and GGR (€830m in H1 2025, -2.6 per cent in H1 2025) is accelerating.
Online casino is still not regulated in France. The government put plans to regulate the sector on hold amid opposition from land-based casinos. Meanwhile, the ANJ has named Sophie Namer to head up its newly created enforcement department. The new Directorate of Enforcement was established on July 11 as part of the regulator’s new organisational structure.
