Online poker and sports betting bump France’s Q3 results

ch gaming regulator, ARJEL, has this week released its third financial update of the year, showing solid revenue growth prompted by an improvement in the online poker and sports betting markets.

ARJEL has posted revenues of $639m for the three months ending 30 September, rising 23% year-on-year terms. This jump in revenues was mainly driven by an additional 23% increase in online sports betting, totalling $125m during the third quarter 2017.

While football remains the most popular sport, and despite no major tournament falling in Q3 it accounted for 60% of the total betting activity; horse racing has also seen a very successful quarter, with wagering rising 15% year-on-year terms to $284m and revenues increasing 10% to $70m.

ARJEL has credited this hike to the new simplified betting products recently launched by racing operators. Additionally, the regulatory body also noted the recently-improved royalty programmes have also helped in achieving these overall positive results.

In the third quarter of 2017, France’s online poker segment saw its revenue rise by 11% to $67m, marking the biggest quarterly positive upward for almost six years. Cash game revenues reached $25m, up 5% year-on-year; whilst poker tournaments revenue jumped 14% to $41m.

Furthermore, online poker stakes improved 9%, surpassing the $1bn barrier.

In a statement following the update, ARJEL said: “The positive dynamics of the sports betting market observed since the opening of the online gaming market is extended once again this quarter.

“It is driven by the increase in the population of sports betting players; nearly 301,000 player accounts were active each week in Q3, against 239,000 last year in the period.”