The online gaming market in France leveled off during the second quarter of the year after a phenomenal start to the year. The 13 French licensed online sports betting operators reported a healthy increase in the betting turnover and the revenue to the tune of 1 billion euros. This is in spite of the same quarter in 2018 having the opening half of the FIFA world cup. The number of weekly betting customers has also significantly increased by 15.3 percent in the second quarter. It was the case when the bonus offered to the clients has reportedly reduced by 6 percent consecutively over the recent years.
Increasing revenue figures
The online betting turnover and revenue for races have increased to 270 and 66 million euros, respectively. Net losses for the operators were aided because of a 34 percent fall in the offers and decline in the punters’ winnings. The number of active weekly race betters has gone to 4.4 percent during the quarter because of a rise in June, which suggests that the World Cup took a sizable bite than usual from the Q2 results in 2018. Online poker seems to have increased significantly to 5 percent year by year, so the revenue is at 63 million pounds though this is a decrease from the total in quarter 1. The cash games that were the only issue with the first-quarter results have seen the spending increase to one billion, while the revenue has now experienced a spending increase. This growth rate exceeds the reliable tournament vertical.
Strong Overall H1
Other sectors have seen an improvement in the French sector throughout H1. The median expenditure across the licensees has risen marginally to 104 million euros though this is only a third of the marketing budget. The rest was designated for retention and acquisition bonuses, and some went to sponsorship deals. The revenue for the second quarter increased by 13.6 percent to 343 million euros, and 62 percent of this came from online sports betting. The vertical is being assisted by the player activity considering there is an average of 608,000 players every week. This is a 100,000 plus improvement in the engagement levels. The sports betting sector expanded because of the launch of the Vbet brand and Relax Gaming. The recovery for poker in the second quarter was evident across all departments.
Relax gaming effect on the market
The improved performance of the poker market is partly from the new initiatives by operators. Relax Gaming signed an agreement with Unibet intending to deliver an attractive poker product to the market. They also launched a new product named HexaPro. It is a format where the player can win thousands of times their investment in a short period, and this gained a lot of popularity. The product was live after a custom process before the unveiling process. Relax Gaming COO; Martin Stalros stated they were pleased to take the poker product live, and the feedback was astonishing. It outperformed all expectations and is continually improving the experiences offered to players. The launch in the market is allegedly one-step towards a poker network utilizing the legislation concerning liquidity.
The online gaming market in France is clearly in the expansion stage as the increasing demands of the population are enabling firms. Betting operators are now making partnerships, which consolidate their resources and improve innovation. The regulatory bodies also seem to be allowing the growth of the industry as opposed to their neighbors, the UK. Due to the incentives created for online poker, it may soon outgrow the other gambling departments in turnover and revenue.
Disclaimer: All images are copyright to their respective owners and are used by USA Online Casino for informational purposes only.
