Euro 2020 helps boost French igaming GGR to €444.0m in Q3

This was an increase of 9.6% compared to the country’s Q3 2020 results, when performance was heavily impacted by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19 ) pandemic.

However, the figure was down from Q2, when operators took in €617m.

Sports betting made up €264m of the overall GGR, up 15.7% year-on-year.

A total of €1.60bn was staked on sports during the third quarter, a number aided by the end of the 2020 European Championship and the Tokyo Summer Olympics, which combined to attract €520m worth of bets.

This was a decrease of 0.9% from the €1.61bn stakes recorded in Q3 2020, which at the time was the highest number recorded since the market opened. Stakes were also down from Q2 of 2021.

Bets on horse racing generated €81m, down 6.9%, while poker GGR rose 10% to €99m.

Horse racing stakes reached €363m, which is the same amounted recorded in Q3 2020.

A total of 2.2 million players were active during the quarter, up 0.7% year-on-year.

In October, ANJ condemned operators for limiting stakes or outright refusing to take players’ bets, and said this was not permitted in France.

The regulator has also slammed operators for aggressive marketing activities, especially around Euro 2020. After the event ended, it promised to implement an “action plan” on marketing.