Olympics and Euros drive 49.4% gaming revenue jump for Banijay’s Betclic in Q3
Revenue in the Banijay Gaming division amounted to €342.4 million (£284.7 million/$369.9 million) in the three months to 30 September. This comfortably surpasses the €229.3 million reported in Q3 of the previous year.
This strong performance, driven by its lead brand Betclic, shored up Banijay Group’s Q3 performance, with its other core division – spanning TV production and distribution and live events – reporting a 3.5% year-on-year decline in revenue. Banijay Gaming’s contribution meant total revenue rose 9.4% to €1.03 billion for the quarter.
“Online sports betting and gaming once again outperformed its markets across all activities,” Banijay Group CEO François Riahi said. “This was driven by a busy calendar of major sporting events and the success of our platform in attracting and retaining more players.”
New platform launch helps gaming growth at Banijay
Breaking down the performance of Banijay Gaming during Q3, sportsbook remains its main revenue source. Revenue for the period from this segment jumped 55.0% year-on-year to €262.2 million.
In the business’ earnings call Riahi highlighted the impact of an unusually strong sporting calendar, with Euro 2024’s final rounds played out in Q3 and the Olympics taking place in Paris.
“With Euro 2024, if we compare it to Euro 2020 [held in 2021], we had twice the number of unique active players,” Riahi explained. “So, we have been able to double the number of players in our platform in the last three years.
“If we compare Euro 2024 to the last big football event, the 2022 World Cup, just 18 months ago, revenue was 30% higher than during the World Cup, even with fewer games.”
With strong enthusiasm for the Olympics taking place in Betclic’s main market, betting volumes were four times higher than for the previous edition, held in Tokyo in 2021.
“We saw strong enthusiasm for the Olympics in Paris,” Riahi said. “This boosted sports betting during what is normally a quiet period for us. We saw record betting levels in France.”
He pointed out the wider sports betting market saw volumes grow threefold compared to the Tokyo games, meaning Betclic outperformed its competitors. This, Banijay noted, was aided by the launch of an updated online platform and mobile app that contributed to the “outstanding” Q3 performance.
Elsewhere, casino revenue outside France jumped 32.2% to €54.9 million, aided by a significant expansion in the range of games on offer. Its iOS offering now features 2,000 games.
Poker contributed a further €19.9 million of revenue, up 31.7%, while horse race betting revenue jumped 58.5% to €5.5 million.
Banijay Gaming year-to-date revenue breaks €1 billion mark
As for the year-to-date, gaming revenue in the nine months to 30 September was €1.04 billion, a 44.7% year-on-year improvement. This, Riahi noted, was in part down to a particularly unique sporting calendar.
Euro 2024 took place over Q2 and Q3, complemented by the Olympics in the third quarter, although the Africa Cup of Nations also ran in the first quarter. This year’s edition was hosted by the Ivory Coast, where Betclic is the market leader, he said.
Accordingly, sports betting contributed the majority of year-to-date revenue for Banijay Gaming. At €813.6 million, betting revenue is up 45.7% compared to the first nine months of 2024. Casino revenue also grew strongly, up 43.9% to €153.9 million, with a further €57.4 million coming from poker and €15.1 million from horse racing.
Again, this shored up group revenue, offsetting a 2.9% decline in Banijay Entertainment & Live’s contribution to €2.08 billion.
Group adjusted EBITDA increased 15.5% to €546.4 million. Of this, €265.5 million was attributed to the gaming business, up 43.6% year-on-year and at a 25.5% margin. Operating profit for the group increased 12.8% to €274.9 million, on the back of gaming growth. Even after accounting for finance costs, pre-tax profit jumped 169.5% to €107.2 million.
Banijay paid €51.6 million in tax and other non-operational costs. This left an adjusted net profit of €248.2 million, some 14.3% higher year-on-year.
Betclic has been part of Banijay for several years now. In May 2022, Betclic announced it was to merge with television production giant Banijay to create a new listed entity, FL Entertainment. This May, the company rebranded to Banijay Group, with the Banijay Gaming sub-division regrouping online sports betting and gaming activities.