Online betting drives revenue to €5.7 billion
France's gambling industry remains on course for growth. In the first half of 2025, gross gaming revenue (GGR) increased by 3.5% year-on-year to €5.7 billion. This was announced by the national gambling regulator, l'Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), in its latest report. The industry thus significantly exceeded the previous year's figure of €5.5 billion – excluding revenue from land-based casinos and gaming clubs, which are recorded separately.
Online sports betting as a growth driver
The largest share of the increase was attributable to the online sports betting segment, which recorded a 10% increase in revenue to €961 million. Stakes rose by 15% to around €6 billion, while the number of active player accounts increased by 10%.
This growth is also remarkable because there were no major international sporting events in the first half of 2025. In the same period in 2024, the European Football Championship (Euro 2024) had already generated high betting revenues.
According to ANJ, the most popular sports among French bettors remain:
- Soccer: 52% of all online bets
- Tennis: 26%
- Basketball: 9%
- Rugby: 2%
- Other sports: 11%
Poker and horse betting are stagnating
While online sports betting continues to boom, other segments are showing weaker growth.
Online poker recorded a 4% decline in revenue to €246 million. The cash game segment was particularly affected, with a 15% decline to €47 million. Despite a 10% increase in player numbers, this could not be offset – the ANJ attributes this to increased cross-selling.
The online horse betting market also stagnated. With revenues of €174 million and stakes of €795 million, growth remained marginal (+1%). However, the number of active players fell by 3% compared to the previous year.
FDJ and PMU with mixed results
Française des Jeux (FDJ) – owner of Kindred Group since October 2024 – reported strong revenue growth of 19% to €4.4 billion in the first half of 2025.
- The sports betting segment generated €3.5 billion, an increase of 4%.
- The online business developed particularly dynamically, growing by 458% to €703 million as a result of the Kindred acquisition.
- By contrast, the international lottery business declined by 9% to €168 million.
The long-established horse betting provider Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), on the other hand, suffered a decline of 2.6% and generated €830 million. In the first quarter, revenue fell by 4% and stakes by as much as 5.5%. A slight recovery only became apparent in the second quarter, but this was not enough to offset the decline.