Online sports betting revenue in France fell by 56% year-on-year for Q2, with the coronavirus pandemic having a significant impact on the vertical.

Figures from France’s new gambling regulator L’Autorité nationale des Jeux (ANJ) showed gross gaming revenue (GGR) for online sports betting dropped to €94m ($112.6m) for Q2, with operators’ turnover decreasing by 87% over the lockdown period between 16 March and 10 May.

The pandemic, which caused a suspension of all major live sport in mid-March with French Ligue 1 cancelled in April, resulted in active player accounts falling by 36%, with the average spending per active player decreasing 32% from 2019.

Overall, the online gambling market saw GGR decrease by 6% down to €323m for the quarter. Horseracing betting GGR increased 33% to €88m for Q2, the highest since the French market was regulated in 2010, while amounts wagered increased by 35% to €362m.

Online poker GGR rose by 126% to €142m, with the amount of active players soaring by 68%, as players turned their attentions away from sports betting during the lockdown period.

The rise in poker helped H1 GGR for the online market increase by 8% from 2019, up to €758m for the first six months of 2020.